Last Christmas I was in south Florida and we were in the hype, fear, and reality of an H1N1 flu pandemic. I was compounding Tamiflu suspension in 16 ounce batches each and every day. Roche was killing with the sales numbers as Tamiflu was going so fast we couldn't keep it in stock. Every child that had a sniffle or cough with a fever got Tamiflu suspension just in case it was the sinister and potentially fatal H1N1.
Today I stare at the gallon jugs of cherry syrup patiently waiting for their turn to be useful and the boxes of Tamiflu capsules seldom prescribed. They have been rendered unnecessary for the time being by vaccinations. This isn't a bad thing, although I hope Roche is still making Tamiflu for the next viral pandemic, but it proves the value of vaccinations.
As Novartis, Medimmune, and Sanofi-Pasteur reap the financial reward of flu vaccination I hope people realize the value of vaccination programs in general. We can prevent horrible fatal diseases and not as horrible hospitalizing diseases with vaccinations. As the world becomes more densely packed with people and people live with their farm animals, diseases will make the crossover from infecting animals to infecting people. Add in a huge amount of world travelers to act as carriers and we see it more and more often with many fatalities.
It is through science and technology that we are able to isolate, study, and prevent if not eradicate pathogens so that more people survive pandemics. For those people who refuse to vaccinate their children out of fear and misinformation, I hope your children are never infected with a vaccine preventable disease so they do not have to suffer irreparable physical/mental damage or death due to your stupidity.
Vaccines do not cause autism. The amount of thymersol used as preservative in a very few vaccines would not even kill a parakeet, lab mouse, or a goldfish. Stop beating that stupid dead horse and get with the program! You have probably used more thymersol in over the counter eye drops than you ever got from a vaccine and statistics show that rates of autism have multiplied greatly for years after thymersol was discontinued in childhood vaccinations in the early 90s.
Perhaps autism is happening because people are so ready to pump developing infants full of medications for every little sniffle, sneeze, or cough. "The baby's fussy so lets give it an antibiotic and some Motrin!" I hate dispensing prescriptions and OTC meds for young children. They are still developing and their bodies cannot process these chemicals as effectively as adults. Unless the child has a fever (above 102 you should take them to the ER because they are at risk of seizures and brain damage) or a physician confirmed infection you shouldn't be pumping them full of medications. I also DESPISE people who pump their kids full of antipsychotics, antidepressants, and ADHD medications. Children are hyper and jumpy because they are children. They have lots of energy and have to touch, see, smell and taste everything because it is part of the human condition and how children learn about their environment before they know how to communicate on a speaking level. Stop vegetating them with drugs!!!
Perhaps it is all the fat-free and preservative/additive full crap you feed your kids with and ate during pregnancy. That is where my bet is. Children do need a certain amount of dietary fat for proper neurological development but when your "food" contains a list of barely pronounceable ingredients maybe you shouldn't be eating it or feeding it to your kids. I liken that to drinking or smoking formaldehyde....it preserves dead flesh, so gee whiz, it is gonna do the same thing to yours Johnny smartass. I can't wait for studies to prove that food preservatives are toxic. Go science!
**Apologies, sometimes I go on a idealogical rampage.
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4 comments:
Interesting, and I have a sneaking suspicion there's enough truth in that claim to make it worthwhile. But, the added ingredient to autism of 'addle-pated' parenting wherein the folks do not relax around their kids, and consequently deliberately or accidentally agitate the little monsters.
I know of mothers who give their children tylenol and ibprofen after their vaccinations. Their Facebook updates read something like "Little Precious has to get his *insert month* vaccination. =( One of them is a nurse. She, of all people, should know that the vaccination will be FAR less painful than the actual disease. Grr.
We seriously need a pandemic of one of the nastier childhood diseases to remind people of why the vaccine
ADD/ADHD is compounded when those "OMG MY KID HAS THE SNIFFLES, HERE'S DRUGS" parents don't let their kids go outside or venture around. Instead they keep them inside for fear of strangers (sure there's a risk), but teach your kids stuff like "don't talk to strangers", etc. and you will probably not have to worry. Video games don't help, I understand, but so much can be solved with "Go outside and play and be home by X o'clock" than with RX after RX.
My parents would urge us to go outside because I was a destructive, loud, and annoying child. My parents love to remind me about how I took a nail and poked holes in the insulation when they were building onto the house, the time I beat up all the new kitchen cabinets with a meat tenderizer, how I would take apart small electrical appliances or toys and rebuild them, and how I loved to turn pots and pans upside down to use as a drum kit. I didn't need Adderall, I needed a constructive hobby. The hobbies I got: music and literature. I used to play guitar and flute and spent hours wrapped up in a Sci'Fi/Fiction/
horror novel or a work of classic literature. Structured activities gave me things to focus on that were a whole lot better than the "pots and pans orchestra". I should sue STOMP for using my jams... Drugs? Kids don't need no stinking drugs!!!
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