Anti-Vaccination Body Count

Since Osocio is an international blog, I thought I’d use an unconventional campaign to open a discussion about different societies’ reactions to social issues.

A few days ago, Marc posted about an American campaign that encouraged people to get their vaccinations. He commented, “This is the third campaign within a month here on Osocio about vaccination. I never realized that this is still an issue in the western world. I guess it is.”

Marc lives in the Netherlands. I am in Canada. And from where I sit, I can indeed attest to a strong anti-immunization movement in the English-speaking world.

The movement is strongest in the individualistic heartland of the USA, where distrust of government involvement in healthcare runs high. And the most famous spokesperson for the movement is former model and reality show star Jenny McCarthy.

McCarthy’s ”Generation Rescue” continues to insist that there is a causal link between mercury-based preservatives in common vaccines and the onset of childhood autism. This view was given some credence, a few years ago, in a paper published by Andrew Wakefield in the Lancet. (That paper was recently the subject of a full retraction by the Lancet, and Wakefield exposed as a fraud with an evil moneymaking scheme worthy of a Bond villain. Seriously.)

The anti-vaccine movement, however, was undaunted by the scandal. It is, after all, a very personal crusade for parents of kids with autism (McCarthy is one).

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to explain the grave dangers posed by lower vaccination rates: outbreaks of formerly controlled and nearly-eradicated diseases like Measles, Rubella, and even Polio, as well as opportunities for new diseases to mutate and spread due to lessened “herd immunity”. But despite the news and various health campaigns, the debate continues.

One of the major battlegrounds, of course, is the internet. And that’s where I found a site called ”Jenny McCarthy Body Count”:

These are American statistics. Note the zero.

It’s a simple, brutal and effective “viral” (no pun intended) to underscore the message that real people are dying as a result of illnesses that they could have been immunized against.

The site makes it clear that they don’t really hold Ms. McCarthy personally accountable for all of the deaths, but notes “as the unofficial spokesperson for the United States anti-vaccination movement she may be indirectly responsible for at least some of these illnesses and deaths and even one vaccine preventable illness or vaccine preventable death is too many.”

The site was created by Derek Bartholomaus, an American post-production supervisor and producer for film and television. In his FAQ, he states that there is no profit motive involved, only conviction. Read his manifesto after the break.

Jenny McCarthy speaking on Autism, from Wikimedia Commons.

WELCOME TO THE JENNY MCCARTHY BODY COUNT

“I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their f___ing fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s s___. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism.”
Jenny McCarthy in Time Magazine, April 2009

Jenny McCarthy is a celebrity from the United States.  She is most well known for posing nude as a Playboy Playmate, for picking her nose on the MTV show Singled Out, and for being the former girlfriend of actor/comedian Jim Carrey.

In 2002 she gave birth to a son named Evan.  In 2006 she started promoting Evan as being a “Crystal Child” and herself as being an “Indigo Mom”.

In May 2007 Jenny McCarthy announced that Evan was not a “Crystal Child” after all, but had been diagnosed with autism (some people have said that there is a possibility that he may have been misdiagnosed and he actually has Landau-Kleffner syndrome).  She holds on to the mistaken belief that Evan’s alleged autism was caused by his receiving childhood vaccines.  Most anti-vaccination believers claim that the compound thimerosal led to an increase in autism cases.  The Measles/Mumps/Rubella vaccine is their usual target.  However, thimerosal was never used as a preservative in the Measles/Mumps/Rubella vaccine.  All vaccines licensed since 1999, with the exception of a few multidose container vaccines (such as some, but not all, HIB and Influenza vaccines), have not contained thimerosal as a preservative.  Autism has not declined since 1999, thereby disproving this connection.  In addition, Jenny McCarthy’s child, Evan, was not born until 2002, well after thimerosal had been removed from most childhood vaccines.  This has led Jenny McCarthy, and others, to claim that it was the MMR vaccine itself that caused autism or that it was vaccines in general that caused autism.  All of these ideas have been disproven in multiple scientific and legal examinations of the evidence.

In June 2007 Jenny McCarthy began promoting anti-vaccination rhetoric.  Because of her celebrity status she has appeared on several television shows and has published multiple books advising parents not to vaccinate their children.  This has led to an increase in the number of vaccine preventable illnesses as well as an increase in the number of vaccine preventable deaths.

Jenny McCarthy has a body count attached to her name.  This website will publish the total number of vaccine preventable illnesses and vaccine preventable deaths that have happened in the United States since June 2007 when she began publicly speaking out against vaccines.

Is Jenny McCarthy directly responsible for every vaccine preventable illness and every vaccine preventable death listed here?  No.  However, as the unofficial spokesperson for the United States anti-vaccination movement she may be indirectly responsible for at least some of these illnesses and deaths and even one vaccine preventable illness or vaccine preventable death is too many.

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Comments

Don’t be surprised if you get some hatemail. The anti-vaxxer movement is essentially a new-age religion. They believe in a massive vaccine conspiracy by drug companies and entire scientific community (along with the 98% of doctors who vaccinate their own kids), even though vaccines make almost no money for drug companies since they’re only taken once. The American Academy of Pediatrics just released its review of 41 published scientific studies investigating a possible link between vaccines and autism. Not a single one of the 41 showed a link. In fact, there isn’t a single study published in any recognized scientific journal showing such a link. This problem is made worse by the Internet, where anyone can post anything or take anything out of context...ignorance and myth reign.

Drug companies hardly make any money with the sale of vaccines???? Now thats a load of big hot steamy shit! Big Pharmas are a multi billion dollar industy.. it benefits them to keep us sick. Many of the kids that have contracted these diseases were already vaccinated. Just like the many who run out to get the flu shot and get the flu anyway. If there is 14,000 different strains of the flu, are you going to pump yourself with 14,000 vaccines? Oh Big Pharmas going to love you! You’re one big dollar sign to them.  How anybody can say that vaccines are 100% safe is ridiculous and misinformed. If something as simple as Tylenol can have side effects, why is it that vaccines cant?? Tell that to the many people who ARE vaccine injured!! There was a time when they also believed vaccines were 100% safe until it ruined their lives. You only mention the Thimeresol in the vaccine like thats the only chemical it contains..what about the formeldehyde, human deployed cells from embryos, aluminum, ethynol glycol or(anti-freeze), Phenol etc.  Since you believe vaccines are so safe and sprint out the door to prick yourself everytime BigPharma says you should, then why are you so afraid of the ones who decide not to vaccinate or use an alternate vaccine schedule? If you’re vaccinated you believe you’re safe right??? I’ll see ya in 20 yrs from now when the long term affects kick in and you’re suffering from Alzeimers or cancer…

Did Eileen just tell Kim to “Get cancer and die?” : (

I’m not surprised by this response from the anti-vaccination movement. I’m just disappointed it took so long.

Where exactly did I say “Kim get cancer and die”??? Don’t change and twist my words to soothe itchy ears! By informing the public about the side affects of vaccines is trying to prevent deaths and disabilities. People should research it more and make informed decisions based on facts about both the benefits AND side-affects of vaccines. I hate the term anti-vaccine, we are not anti creating healthy medications and protection from terrible diseases what we ARE anti is vaccines containing toxic chemicals that do not belong in a human body. Much less a baby’s body.  Aluminum is in alot of these vaccines and is associated with Alzheimers disease and seizures also cancer producing in laboratory mice (it is used as an additive to promote antibody response). Now THATS what I meant by bombarding our bodies with these chemicals. One size does not fit all! Just cause it didn’t affect one person negatively does not mean that it wouldn’t affect the next person the same way. Some peoples lives are saved by Penincillin while others are deathly allergic to it. Gardasil and H1N1 vaccines have not been tested long enough, which can result in long term affects. When lots of pediatricians are saying they wouldn’t give Gardasil to their own daughters, speaks a 1000 words! If vaccines were 100% safe then we wouldn’t have the need for the “National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program” now would we??

Thank you for covering this issue. The anti-vax movement is as dangerous as it is irrational. I do feel the need to correct you on one minor item--the heart of the anti-vaccine movement has nothing to do with distrust of government, nor is it focused in the “heartland” of the US. In fact, the state with the highest rates of unvaccinated children is New Jersey. The “educated” parents of the East and West coast are the biggest offenders, and that’s why you’ll see the majority of the outbreaks are taking place there, rather than in the “heartland.” I reside in Minnesota, where, tragically, the herd immunity is begin to fall apart as immunization rates dip below 95%. Anyway, it’s a minor point, but knowing all we can about the demographics of this super-damaging fringe group is important in combatting its actions.

Thank you, Ashley, for adding perspective.

As a child, I was given the whooping cough vaccine. I had a bad reaction. Apparently I am allergy. The vaccine gave me a seizure.

This was not a surprise. The same vaccine gave my older brother a 103+ degree fever.

But public schools require these vaccinations.

So if I have kids I have to choose between their health and their education.

This is wrong.