A Necessary Retelling of the Smallpox Vaccine Story

A curious confluence of events unfolded Tuesday night. Just hours before President Obama uttered the powerful “science and reason matter” in his farewell address, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the incoming president had tapped him to head a committee on vaccine safety. RFK Jr. is not a pediatric immunologist nor an epidemiologist, but a vocal “vaccine skeptic.” Although the PEOTUS dialed back on the purported appointment shortly after social media erupted, a tweet from March 28, 2014 makes his analysis of the history and science of vaccines clear: Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesnt feel good and changes – AUTISM. Many such cases! As a child I devoured books on the history of medicine. One of my favorite stories was how Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine, testing an approach that had been used for centuries. Knowing his story made me understand why my little sister had to shriek her way through shots for the “childhood diseases,” while I’d suffered through chickenpox, mumps, and both types of measles. My pediatrician predicted I’d end up deaf and brain damaged after a month with measles. Now I think the tale of Edward Jenner needs retelling, for those who may not have heard it. VACCINES 101 A vaccine is a pathogen, or part of one, whose presence in a human body is sufficient to evoke an immune response, yet not complete or active ...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care syndicated vaccines Source Type: blogs