by James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, Popular Rationalism, ©2024
(Jul. 27, 2024) — This article from The Conversation offers a narrowly prescribed overview of vaccine benefits and safety, attempting to counter information often provided by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. However, the article has several shortcomings that need to be addressed for a more balanced and scientifically accurate representation.
The article attempts to underscore the alleged historical success of vaccines, emphasizing the significant reduction in infectious diseases and the number of lives saved. This contextual background is crucial for understanding the actual relevance of vaccines in public health. Citing specific data points, such as the 154 million lives saved over the past 50 years, reinforces the apparent effectiveness of vaccines.
However, it is now well known that such claims represent a type of stolen valor. Let’s see what Gary Null had to say about this in 2020:
“What has contributed historically to the decline of scourges like smallpox, polio, tetanus, measles, and diphtheria? Although many attribute the decreased incidence of these diseases to the introduction of vaccines, a look at the epidemiological data indicates that many, if not most, infectious diseases started declining noticeably prior to the introduction of their vaccines due to significant improvements in the way we live. Sanitation, proper sewage disposal, clean water, improved nutrition, indoor plumbing, less-crowded living conditions, elimination of child labor and better hygiene were the real reasons that infectious rates waned.
For example, polio declined in the US in the 1920s from 7,229 cases in 1921 to 3,826 cases in 1951. By the time the vaccine became widespread in 1961, the number of cases was already down to 1,076. (8) There is no scientifically sound evidence that mass inoculation can be credited with eliminating any infectious disease. Furthermore, if vaccination is responsible for the disappearance of these diseases in the US, why did they simultaneously disappear in Europe prior to mass vaccinations?
The following graphs show that large drops in disease death rates occurred long before vaccines were introduced. From 1900 to 1963, when the measles vaccine was introduced, death rates from measles had declined from 13.3 per 100,000 to 0.2 per 100,000 – a 98% decrease. From 1900 to 1949, death rates from whooping cough declined from 12.2 per 100,000 to 0.5 per 100,000 – a 96% decrease. From 1900 to 1949, death rates from diphtheria declined from 40.3 per 100,000 to 0.4 per 100,000 – a 99% decrease. These graphs demonstrate clear and major changes in the severity of diseases well before any vaccines were introduced. (9)
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