Listener Q&A: Vaccine Controversy

 

Q:

My daughter is debating vaccinations for her kids because of the autism side effect controversy. I am wary myself, because I think pharmaceutical companies would hide any research done about autism as a side effect. I’m writing to see if you know a pediatrician that is like you – on top of the game and has a plan to minimize risk of autism from vaccines. I want to find someone that grasps this…

– A Concerned Grandpa

A:

Dear Concerned Grandpa,

I rarely speak so candidly but I will on this subject since I feel so strongly about it. THERE IS NO CONTROVERSY! THERE IS NO RISK OF AUTISM!

Check the CDC website or the American Academy of Pediatrics. The real issue way back when wasn’t even the vaccines themselves but the mercury containing preservative Thimerosal.

Most of us are not old enough to have witnessed first-hand the devastation of small pox, polio and measles but it’s worth doing a bit of reading to understand how catastrophic these illnesses were. Vaccine programs only work if populations are uniformly treated otherwise the virus persists, mutates and continues to wreak havoc.

The anti-vaccine movement is NOT founded upon science and is supported with cult-like fanaticism mostly by those looking for conspiracies to assuage misplaced unresolved guilt for a spectrum of diseases that remain poorly understood and tragic in their impact on affected children and their families.  Please, please, please don’t let your daughter be misled by the zealots, and vaccinate your grandkids!

Be Well,

Dr. Bruce Feinberg