Following Vaccinations

Joan Campbell - a regular on the JABS forum has recently launched a new website followingvaccinations.com.

For the last few months, she's been collecting short anecdotes from parents worldwide about (ostensibly) how their children were damaged by vaccines.

Now - it's going to be very difficult for me - and other bloggers, no doubt - to pull this to shreds without being accused of being heartless bastards. If that's how any of this post comes across, it isn't meant to; as I've always said, I have nothing but sympathy and admiration for parents of autistic, and other ill children. The people I feel loathing for are those who are prepared to use those parents in order to further their own twisted, anti-vaccine agenda.

Mrs Campbell is a parent herself - her story is listed, among 900 others - but she's clearly had her head turned by the anti-vax zealots; the Wakefields, the Stones etc of this world, and her new site is deliberately playing right into their hands. For instance, Dan Olmsted has described it on Age of Autism as;

…one of the most important documents ever created about children's health

and

in this case, the plural of anecdote is the truth.

No Dan, it isn't.

While many of them are heart-wrenching stories - which was clearly the intention - there are a lot which don't mention vaccines at all, or do so only tangentially;

…but my son, looking back, showed signs from birth

I believe from the day he was born there was something wrong. He wouldn't breast feed, he wouldn't eat and now that he is 6 yrs old he does not chew at all.

Unable to pinpoint @ an infant which vaccine, but after diagnosed at age 12 with NLD versus Asperger's

the dates sound mysteriously made-up;

My son started having seizures after his one month MMR

or they're just repeating standard anti-vax rhetoric;

I don't think a specific vaccination causes autism. I think it's all the crap in vaccinations, like all the heavy metals that are loaded into it as they are very toxic.

As we're all aware - vaccines can produce adverse effects - no-one's denying this, so some of the stories are to be expected;

My son was always rushed to the e.r after his shots he was lethargic, it was scary.

There are a lot more stories that don't add up - or really have no place in Mrs Campbell's list - but there are an an awful lot more stories of ill children. It's telling that so few of them have mentioned that any kind of expert opinion has agreed with their decision that their children's conditions were in any way vaccine related.

While these are heartbreaking stories, they are not evidence that vaccines cause autism, or any of the other wide range of ailments that the anti-vax zealots like to claim they do.

In case Mr Olmsted is reading this, as you well know, the plural of anecdote, even heartbreaking ones like these, is not truth.

Note: Having just read this through, I just know I'm going to attract hate mail for this post, so I'll say it again - I have nothing but respect and sympathy for parents of ill children. I loathe the anti-vax brigade who've given you spurious information and a "reason" for their conditions, in many cases in order to line their own pockets.

Neither am I accusing parents of lying - although I suspect many of them may be mistaken about aspects of their children's experiences, and have, in their own minds, and with no intent to deliberately deceive, made those mistakes to fit the anti-vaccine story.

AnneDachel.com

I've just come across

AnneDachel.com

. Woo - it's full of some seriously advanced and dangerous anti-vax wingnuttery…

For those of you who don't know, Anne Dachel is the "Media Editor" at Age of Autism, and is, frankly, so full of shit you could burst her with a pin and fertilise several acres of prime farmland.

I'll be pulling some choice crap apart in the next few days. Stay tuned…

John Stone's most feeble COI so far…

Anti-vaccine wingnut John Stone

John "Cock" Stone's favoured tactic to rehabilitate Andrew Wakefield in the eyes of his adoring public, and to reignite the long dead MMR - Autism "link" that he pulled out of his arse, is to find "undeclared conflicts of interest" involving anyone even remotely involved with any medium which, quite rightly, portrays Wakefield as a fraud, charlatan, liar, incompetent scientist, danger to the public and buffoon.

In March of this year, the BBC broadcast an excellent documentary series entitled "Science Betrayed", episode 2 of which dealt with well known fraud, charlatan, liar, incompetent scientist, danger to the public and buffoon, Andrew Wakefield.

John Stone has finally, three months down the line, managed to concoct an undeclared conflict of interest for one of the co-producers of the show. It goes like this:

Alexandra Feachem (the co-producer of the programme, along with many other excellent science programmes for BBC Radio) is the daughter of…

Sir Richard Feacham, who, as well as being Professor of Global Health at both the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley, a Visiting Professor at the University of London and an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland (Wikipedia) is the founder and director of an organisation called…

The Global Health Group, an organisation which, according to its website, has three main focus areas:

• The Evidence-to-Policy Initiative (E2Pi)
• The Malaria Elimination Initiative
• The Health Systems Initiative

Of these, the Evidence-to-Policy Initiative is supported by three-year funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Evidence-To-Policy initiative doesn't have anything to do with vaccines, but…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gives a large amount of money to support vaccination programmes worldwide, and, in addition…

Bill Gates once said something true about Andrew Wakefield.

"Well, Dr. Wakefield has been shown to use absolutely fraudulent data. He had a financial interest in some lawsuits. He created a fake paper. The journal allowed it to run."

So, the co-producer's father has (as one of his jobs) a post working for a non-vaccine related organisation which is, in part, funded by someone who once said something you didn't like (but was true) about Andrew Wakefield. And you think that's a conflict of interest that should be declared?

Fucking grow up, you cock.

Australian TV - excellent stuff

Thanks to Orac's "Respectful insolence" blog, I've watched this excellent piece on Australian anti-vaccine stupidity and evil.



Viera Scheibner (who's frequently quoted as an authority by anti-vax wingnuts, and especially that arsehole John Scudamore at Whale.to) features pretty heavily, and manages to demonstrate pretty effectively how vile and deluded she is.

Please watch this - and point any parents you know who sit on the fence towards it.

Another flop from the anti-vax crowd

Not only is Wakefield's book being heavily discounted, but it seems that anti-vax wingnuts Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill are less popular still. Their dismal load of old bollocks (technical term - keep up) entitled "The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic", which has a recommended retail price of $27.99 (a shade over seventeen quid) is now available, new, hardback, through Amazon.com at just $6.71 - £4.08 (price conversions by xe.com)

Alternatively, if you're in the UK and need a nice colourful fly-swat, why not get it from Amazon.co.uk (unlike Wakefield's tome of toss it's legitimately available in the UK) - just £4.24.

Callous Disregard price countdown…

I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that Andrew Wakefield's collection of papier maché in waiting, "Callous Disregard" is now available (new) on Amazon.com for $7.98. That's £4.86 at today's rates (from xe.com).