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Taliban

The Taliban Supports the Anti Vaccine Movement… Naturally

Parents in my neighborhood don’t know much about the effects of Polio. Some of our older friend or our parent’s friends might have a slight limp or even a more debilitating one but for the most part Polio is something that’s been gone from the US for a number of decades.

You know what’s back in the US? Whooping Cough. Yeah, Whooping Cough was “that thing” that our parents worried about. It was unheard of in my generation but a group of self-important parents who have decided that Vaccines will give their children autism because of a single fraudulent study that was retracted several years ago (see the shamed researcher here) or perhaps because of anecdotal evidence provided by a Playboy Centerfold.

Interestingly the Taliban is currently not allowing 140,000 children to get the Polio Vaccine. They say they’re doing it because the US had used a physician as a spy and they believe that could happen again. This will likely be considered one of the worst war crimes of our lifetime. Time magazine states, “Using children as medical poker chips is indefensible under any circumstances…”

But wait? What about the parents who choose to not vaccinate in my neighborhood. They’re like local heros… you know… debunking science and all that. They’re so counter culture, they’re pro-kid, they’re like martyrs. What about the kids in Oregon whose parents wanted them on a “different schedule”.

Both Washington and Oregon have seen an increase in pertussis (whooping cough) diagnoses in recent years. In 2002, the Washington State Department of Health reported fewer than 600 cases. During a 2005 outbreak, more than 1,000 cases were reported. The number fell below 300 in 2009, but climbed again to almost 1,000 cases in 2011. So far this year, 2,092 cases have been reported in that state. A similar trend was reported by the Oregon Health Authority: There were fewer than 200 cases in 2002, increasing to more than 600 per year from 2005 to 2007. Pertussis cases dropped to around 100 the following year, and steadily increased to 320 cases in 2011. As of June 2012, 338 cases have been reported in the state of Oregon – almost three times as many as were reported at the same time last year.

— Jessica Stoller-Conrad

Anti Vaxxers what is the matter with your thinking? Is it not enough that you don’t care that your children could become critically ill? Do you really have to put everyone else’s kids at risk? The arrogance is astounding and every time I hear a parent say “I didn’t vaccinate” or “I didn’t vaccinate yet” I think to myself, “There goes a really bad parent.”