To anti-vaccination activists,
The technological advancements of the last 100 years are among the most important in history for supporting our modern lifestyle. It is only because of said modern lifestyle that this discussion is even happening.
In fact, anti-vaccination movements continue over 130 years of rejecting scientific evidence in the face of an advancing society. Since the Leicester demonstrations of 1885, vaccination opponents have been denying the reduced mortality rates that modern medicine has brought. Regardless of minor setbacks and issues with the process that you insist are proof of malicious intent, over 20 million lives have been saved because of vaccines. It is impossible to deny this based on coincidences that occurred after vaccinations.
Another point of contention I have with vaccination opponents is their cherry picking of scientific evidence. One frequently cited study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield purports a potential link between one specific type of vaccine (MMR) and autism. However, this study has since been thoroughly disproven and retracted. Autism is a genetic disease and vaccines cannot simply change the DNA. Autism is a psychological disease and can emerge as the subject matures.
Therefore, I would ask you to do the right thing and embrace science. Each unvaccinated child risks fostering emergent diseases new and old.
Thank you.
