Answer me this, anti-vaccinators

July 2002

Someone asked me for a set of questions to put to some anti-vaccination liars to see why I call them liars. I offered the following list, but he chose to ask another question instead. I posted the list to some vaccination-related Internet forums in mid 2002 and some typical responses are shown below. I haven't bothered to include the response which addressed none of the questions at all but just gave me a lecture about homeopathy.

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1. Of the vaccines in the current schedule, which ones do you believe can safely be given to children?

• I don't know, no one knows. Until one can identify what exactly causes a vaccine to injure certain children, no one can answer which vaccine is safe for any particular child.
• Depends on the child & how you define "safely."
• None
• NONE
• None
• NONE

2. Of the vaccines in the current schedule, which ones do you believe provide protection against disease?

• I think vaccines can make one more susceptible to disease, be it temp or long lasting. One vaccine may offer limited protection for one disease, but what if it makes one susceptible to everything else? Is that better?
• Depends on the person they're given to--whether the person actually responds with a protective effect against the intended infection (because not all people do) and whether they develop another disease in place of the one we're trying to protect them from (because some people do).
• None
• NONE
• None...as the Chickenpox vaccine (a joke on itself) has recently proven the majority of outbreaks are vaccine induced....
• They all provide protection against disease. For how long and at what cost are the relevant questions.

3. If a new vaccine could be produced tomorrow against a fatal or disabling disease, which disease would you like it to prevent?

• I don't think vaccines are tricking the immune system as well as many would like to believe. I think the focus should be on prevention in a more natural way.
• Epidermolysis bullosa
• None
• NONE
• It doesn't exist this utopic idea of vaccines preventing or curing diseases. The entire concept is an oxymoron!
• I don't believe any vaccine as they are currently designed would be something I would be in favor of.

4. Do you believe that the benefits of any vaccine currently in use outweigh the risks associated with it?

• The risks are unknown, so it's impossible to answer this question. You won't know if a vaccine will injure or kill your child until AFTER it has been injected. The serious diseases are not around anymore, so not much risk there. The others are not as deadly as we are led to believe. We are told there were 1 in 500 measles deaths before the vaccine, yet in a current outbreak, there were 3 deaths reported out of 17,000 cases. According to the info we are bombarded with, there should have been at least 34 deaths.... <snip disappointment that not enough people had died in the latest outbreak in Italy>
• Depends on who you're giving it to.
• No
• NO
• No....even the medical community is turning it's back on the smallpox vacc....what does that tell you?
• NO

5. What would it take to convince you that the benefits of a vaccine outweigh the risks?

• After watching my youngest deteriorate before my eyes after a round of vaccines, and speaking with countless parents who have witnessed the same, there is nothing at this point in time that can convince me the benefits outweigh the risks. Show me just ONE study that shows the LONG TERM safety of injecting up to 38 doses of various vaccines into a child by the time he is 5 yrs old. Just one study. Can you do that?
• I'll let you know when I see it.
• Four generations without vaccination, focusing on real improvements in health such as sanitation, good and adequate food
• NOT SURE,HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING CONVINCING YET – I DOUBT ALLOPATHIC MEDICINCE CAN SHOW ME ANYTHING CONVINCING.
• Truth; but as soon as it does come out it will prove that the benefits of a vaccine outweighting the risks is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
• LONG TERM STUDIES by UNBIASED scientists proving vaccines are safe.

6. I have been told that homeopathy can be used to "reverse vaccine damage". As homeopathy is essentially distilled water, how can this work?

• I don't know much about homeopathy so I can't answer this question.
• I personally don't dig homeopathy & don't know much about it, so it beats me. Prayer has been shown to positively impact patients even if they don't know they are being prayed for, though we can't scientifically know how exactly that works. Just because I can't see concretely how either prayer or homeopathy work, doesn't mean that they do not.
• What is your experience with homeopathy? (which is not distilled water) or any alternative health practice... in my experience, improved state of being has been the case, consistently
• I DON'T BELEIVE IN HOMEOPATHY EITHER- DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT.
• don't know enough about homopathy to answer this question.
• You don't understand how homeopathy works. Explaining homeopathy is more than a few words. I suggest you do some more studying on the subject.

7. AIDS kills millions of people each year, but so far no vaccine has been developed. Do you believe that research into an AIDS vaccine should continue?

• Another vaccine to cause more problems than it prevents...another vaccine to push on our children (like the Hep B), no. I think preventative measures are the key, and no, that doesn't include a vaccine.
• Not right now at least. I think we ought to continue research into AIDS pathology before we continue with AIDS vaccine research.
• No opinion
• AIDS DOESN'T KILL MILLIONS EACH YEAR, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AND ITS BECOMING LESS EACH YEAR. NO I DON'T THINK RESEARCH SHOULD CONTINUE INTO AIDS VACCINE.
• Of course but not the exclusion of research into the rise of autism/childhood diabetes/asthma/ADD&ADHD (among others).
• NO

8. I have read about a man called Alan Yurko who is in prison in Florida for murdering a child. The evidence against him looks convincing and he has a criminal record for violent crimes. People are saying that the baby died from vaccine damage, not from being shaken. Do you think Alan Yurko is innocent? Why do you think this?

• I don't know much about the Yurko case. If he is indeed guilty, he should be shot. If he is innocent and the vaccines killed the baby, those involved with giving the vaccine should be shot.
• Beats me (no pun intended). I guess I'd have to be a member of the jury in order to answer that.
• For me this is hearsay, I would need to read the information
• FROM WHAT I'VE READ I BELEIVE HE IS INNOCENT. HOWEVER, I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE CASE AND SPECIFICS. SO IT MIGHT BE BEST IF MY ANSWER WAS UNDECIDED UNTIL I RESEARCH MORE.
• Good question but I don't have an opinion one way or the other at this time.
• I don't know enough about this case.

9. Dr Andrew Wakefield looked at a small number of autistic children whose parents believed that they had been made autistic by vaccination and found what he believes is a connection between MMR and autism. Very large studies examining the records of millions of children do not suggest any connection other than a coincidence of timing. Could Dr Wakefield be wrong?

• He could be, but he could be right. I find it odd that those trying to disprove Wakefield just keep looking at old data, let's try doing some current research.
• To deny the possibility of error on either side would be rather absurd, would it not? Things change in science routinely as our knowledge expands. We ALL could be wrong about any presently held belief. To think otherwise is foolish.
• Possibly, and perhaps not. Vaccines are toxic, it is a fact.
• BOTTOM LINE: MEASLES FROM THE VACCINE WAS FOUND IN THE GUT OF THESE CHILDREN, MORE RESEARCH NEEDS TO BE DONE. THIS RESEARCH, AND ANY OTHER RESEARCH HAS NOT PROVEN THAT MMR DOESN'T CAUSE AUTISM.
• First off show me proof of these very large studies, secondly who funded these "very large" studies? Third who funded Wakefield's studies? Wakefield did...Could Wakefield be wrong?? Of course he could...Could there be something more going on...a cover up....probably....remember the little boy where they found mealses in his brain...kind of supports Wakefield findings now doesn't it?
• Of Course. Any scientific study could be wrong.

10. Of all the vaccines currently given to children, which do you think has saved the most lives?

• Don't know. I'm wondering which ones have negatively affected the most lives, leaving parents scratching their heads (and their doctors) wondering what the heck is wrong with their child.
• Who could possibly know? There are too many other factors involved in the development & progression of disease processes to consider any one vaccine in isolation.
• None
• NONE.
• Vaccines did nothing to save any lives...better living conditions did that. The majority of vaccines were developed long after (MMR for example) the diseases were either dieing off or were dead....
• I do not know and could not guess.