Dear Anti-Vaxxers,
I have tried to be open-minded. I have tried to be understanding. I believe I am very capable of doing that. I know people are not militantly trying to undermine the scientific endeavors of the Western world. Some people are just misinformed and are concerned because they can’t get anyone to be straight with them about vaccines. I get that. There are a lot of voices right now on both sides of this vaccine controversy that claim to be the truth-bearers. Me? I am extremely grateful, blessed, and dare I say almost proud to be vaccinated. I have had almost every vaccine possible, more than most people (Five Hep B vaccines to date, more in the future). You know where I stand.
With that being said, I am SO over the people out there who are scaring the crap out of people for no reason about vaccines.
There is a tactic I have seen on multiple blog sites advocating anti-vaccination that is THE BANE of my existence. I am so over it. For example, in a blog I have seen recently on Facebook the author’s final appeal to people is listing numerous ingredients included in vaccines in an attempt to terrify people because they don’t know what any of them actually are.
I would like to address some of the ingredients that you should apparently be so afraid of.
1. Sodium
Are. you. Kidding. Me. Yes please be very afraid of sodium. Heaven forbid you have the elements you need to send a signal from your brain to your muscle...Oh wait.
Yeah, sodium really sucks. I don’t want any of that stuff.
2. Urea
Yikes, that sounds like I don’t want it either. Especially when you look up the chemical structure of it:
Yeah I mean if you don’t understand from this chemical structure that this is obviously going to put you on death’s door than you are an idiot (sarcasm). WAKE UP PEOPLE. Your body makes this as a result of metabolizing protein. It is found in your blood, your urine, and even in your sweat (gasp!). If this is in, on, or around your body, I would think it is safe to assume your body knows how to handle it.
I had someone say to me one time that “formaldehyde is housed in urea”. First of all, I have a minor in chemistry which isn’t like everything but it is more than enough education to have the authority to call you RIDICULOUS for saying such a thing to me. UGH. Do not be fooled. Formaldehyde is NOT housed in urea. It takes a chemical reaction if not multiple to change urea into formaldehyde. Just because one chemical can be changed into another in a test tube after hydrofluoric acid or what not has been dumped on it DOES NOT mean it is chemically relevant to your body. Your body is not a test tube.
And on that note...
3. Formaldehyde
By far one of the most controversial chemicals known to mankind. You may know it as the chemical used to preserve bodies and body parts. You would be correct. It does do that in extremely large quantities. Want to see the chemical structure? I really want to creep you out.
Yupp. Look at it. Look. at. that. That is quite the chemical there.
It is hard to withhold my rage. I cannot get over the fact that people are literally trying to scare everyone into letting their children and grandchildren suffer from measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, and more because formaldehyde is kinda scary?
Formaldehyde occurs naturally in your body. It is in very very low levels, which is why it doesn’t preserve your body…………. Imagine that. According to this study and the FDA, the amount of formaldehyde in any one vaccine is about 1% of the amount naturally found in your body. Even better, the formaldehyde is absorbed and properly processed by your body within 30 minutes after injection. This means the amount of formaldehyde in your body is safely controlled by your body because your body is awesome.
If you are a fear-mongering anti-vaxxer, stop it. Stop spreading fear about vaccines. If you don’t understand something, it is your responsibility to find out THE TRUTH. The truth does not mean proclaiming that you are above the rest of the population because you are too scared and therefore a superior parent for injecting your children with immunity to the world’s worst diseases. The truth is out there.
The truth is that Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s research about vaccines and autism is bogus. The truth is that just because a chemical has a name that you don’t understand does not mean it is going to kill you. The truth is that pertussis can kill your baby. The truth is that polio can leave your child paralyzed. The truth is that mumps can leave your adolescent son sterile and unable to have children. The truth is that tetanus can kill your child because toxins prevent her from relaxing any muscle in her body, including her diaphragm. The truth is that these diseases WILL do this. These diseases cause people to suffer. That is why scientists have labored and worked to develop vaccines. Because people didn't want to have to deal with it anymore.
If you want to spread fear, talk about this.
Sincerely,
Your upset, vaccinated neighbor
Mumps
That is a swollen salivary gland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumps
Polio
http://www.vaccineinformation.org/polio/photos.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliomyelitis
Tetanus
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/tetanus.aspx
Finally, just for your information, in case you were actually open-minded to any of this,
Sheetal Tadiparty
Flickr Creative Commons
