A new children's book introduces kids to the "wonderful world of illness"
By Katie McDonough
Measles is responsible for thousands of tragic (and preventable) deaths each year. Which is perhaps why so many reviewers are panning a new (and apparently self-published) book by Stephanie Messenger, an Australian author and anti-vaccine activist. According to the author’s page, “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles” was written to:
Amazon reviewers have not taken kindly to Messenger’s suggestion that measles can be an “adventure,” either. As one recently wrote:
And another:
Messenger’s title seems to allude to the Roald Dahl book, “George’s Marvelous Medicine.” Dahl, however, was a strong proponent of vaccination, a position rooted in the tragic death of his young daughter from measles.
Source.
I think the technical term is "What is this I can't even." Also, mods: Can we have a "pseudoscience" tag?
By Katie McDonough
Measles is responsible for thousands of tragic (and preventable) deaths each year. Which is perhaps why so many reviewers are panning a new (and apparently self-published) book by Stephanie Messenger, an Australian author and anti-vaccine activist. According to the author’s page, “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles” was written to:
Educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully. Often today, we are being bombarded with messages from vested interests to fear all diseases in order for someone to sell some potion or vaccine, when, in fact, history shows that in industrialized countries, these diseases are quite benign and, according to natural health sources, beneficial to the body. Having raised three children vaccine-free and childhood disease-free, I have experienced many times when my children’s vaccinated peers succumb to the childhood diseases they were vaccinated against.
Amazon reviewers have not taken kindly to Messenger’s suggestion that measles can be an “adventure,” either. As one recently wrote:
Isn’t Melanie lucky that she didn’t get pneumonia from her measles like 1 in 15 children (7%) do? I had measles when I was a toddler in the 1950s before there was a measles vaccine available. I was in hospital in an oxygen tent for over a week with bilateral pneumonia when I had measles.
And another:
I can only presume that the author was born after the successful vaccination programme made people complacent about the dangers of measles. I was not so lucky. In the epidemic of my childhood I was nearly blinded, and still have scars on my eyeballs. I was the lucky member of the family; my sister died from complications. Measles kills children. This book is irresponsible and misleading at best. At worst it could lead to the death of a child.
Messenger’s title seems to allude to the Roald Dahl book, “George’s Marvelous Medicine.” Dahl, however, was a strong proponent of vaccination, a position rooted in the tragic death of his young daughter from measles.
Source.
I think the technical term is "What is this I can't even." Also, mods: Can we have a "pseudoscience" tag?
but shit like this is one of them.
Adventure..... illness and crippling fear of dying is NOT an adventure... Just, NO.
I hate and despise the anti-vaxxers with the power of a thousand exploding suns. Arrogant, selfish, ignorant dickbags who have no problem reaping the benefits of the vaccinating campaigns of the past, their sole purpose in life is to drag everyone back in the age of plagues.
Sometimes, preemies will have funky reactions to the Pediarix vaccine, but 99% of the time, it's usually because they were given them when they weren't "stable" enough (lots of heart rate or oxygen sat drops). Most kiddos do fine, and it's far better than the alternative of getting the disease they were vaccinated for.
Edited at 2013-01-08 09:07 pm (UTC)
...because we get vaccinated.
my mum's eyesight was wrecked by measles. ia with the comments that say this author and those who support her clearly have not suffered through these "beneficial" childhood diseases.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/desiree-j
(not to say that anti-vaxxers are only liberal, but that's where i've most commonly seen them.)
And I agree; in my experience, then tend to be left-wing.
Edited at 2013-01-08 05:39 pm (UTC)
it just sucks that those titers are so expensive if you don't have insurance. i DO have insurance and i still had to end up paying about $100 for it. :/
Yes, you're correct: That's rubella/German measles.
But that story doesn't get told. It's always about how awful modern medicine and pharmaceuticals are. And of course, how we're all ~overmedicated~ when it comes to mental illness in particular. Because obviously, it's easier to ignore that there's somewhat less stigma in acknowledging you might have a mental health issue that needs medication, than to pretend that Big Pharma wants to medicate us all.
(Have you seen Kate Beaton's comics on her?)
I was expecting the amazon comments to be far worse.
Cool story, bro: a few years ago I got the H1N1 vaccine, then less than a week later got a very mild flu. It wasn't that the vaccine caused the flu, it was that I got the flu before my body had a chance to develop full immunity. If I hadn't had the vaccine, I probably would have gotten a much worse case of it.
1. you were already infected when you got the shot
2. the vaccine only covers certain strains (currently 3) that epidemiologists think are the most likely to be spreading. (FYI: they base the their guess on the strains going around first in Australia.) There are many, many strains of flu. However, the shot does give you partial immunity to other strains, so you may not get as sick if you get a different strain than the shot covers.
3. the shot doesn't give 100% immunity. I believe it's more like 70 or 80%. However, getting the shot will lesson the severity of the flu should you get sick.
4. there are lots of other viruses that have flu-like symptoms, so what you might not be the flu but rather one of these other bugs.
I wish they'd vaccinate for Hep A - it's a hell of a lot easier to catch.
Anti-vax people can seriously just fuck off and die. I *cannot* be civil with them. I want to invite them to talk to my dad (born 1925) and my mom (1933) and discuss the 'magical world of measles' or, you know, the thing that killed two of my dad's siblings.