I believe that that some conspiracy theories are probably based on facts. Maybe there was a cover-up of aliens at Area 51. Maybe owners of fast-food – no, I’m sorry, quick-service restaurants – are putting additives in the grub that make us crave more fat and sugar. But I know this: terrorists brought down the twin towers in New York City. Flouride in the water strengthens tooth enamel. And vaccinations prevent a whole host of diseases that used to be fatal.
If I had a daughter, she would be given the vaccine against HPV. The human papiloma virus is responsible for a stage 4 precancerous lesion that I had removed in a rather delicate surgery, with a nasty recovery stage, a few years ago. My GP and surgeon were shocked that it grew so fast and was so close to becoming malignant. I was also lucky that my growth was external and not a silent internal tumour on the cervix where this virus normally takes hold.
The link between vaccines and autism has already been refuted by prestigious medical journals including the Lancet and the British journal BMJ. Dr. Andrew Wakefield, author of the 1998 study that Jenny McCarthy and so many others clutched as a reason for their childrens’ condition was found to have falsified the data and has been thoroughly discredited. He was stripped of his license and his study was retracted by BMJ in 2010. In other words, the hook the vaccine haters all hung their hats on, broke.
Believing in this study, thousands and thousands of parents are refusing to get their children vaccinated from a list of contagious illnesses and what do we have? Measles cases are on the rise. Get ready to welcome back polio, rubella, smallpox, typhoid fever, TB and many more potentially fatal diseases because panicked parents are withholding scientifically proven medical advancements from their kids. Belief in a debunked bit of hogwash is going to create a health threat for the entire population. It may take decades, but the stage is being set. Thank you, ignorance!
Sadly, there is as much misinformation within the medical community as there is scientifically, well proven information. Unfortunate the misinformation tends to catch the headlines given that it bucks the traditional and well established norms. When you add misinformation, ignorance and fear you create an environment ripe for the return of various diseases.
Polio, TB and whooping cough have already begun to return in some countries and there has been a documented increase in cases of whooping cough appearing in parts of Canada.