The DEVASTATING Effects of the Efforts of Anti-Vaccine Advocates Illustrated in One SHOCKING Graph

Vaccines are a modern miracle and have saved untold lives. They are effective and life saving if tested and validated thoroughly, that is. If my children were in school again, I would have them vaccinated – especially with the illegal aliens pouring over the border. It’s safer to do it than not to do it. I respect those parents who choose not to vaccinate – but I would not take that chance with my children in today’s world. I actually feel that autism is probably brought on by what we eat, more than vaccines. Part of this is the CDC’s fault for claiming that certain diseases are eradicated, which makes people feel they don’t need to get vaccinated. The current outbreak of measles at Disneyland proves otherwise and so do the diseases we are seeing now come over the border.

From TPNN:

For millennia, mankind cursed the heavens and various assorted deities for the disease of the Earth. Smallpox, Measles and various other superbugs ravished untold amount of human beings before vaccinations came on the scene relatively recently (if we’re looking at the totality of time).

Still, in recent years, there has been a movement by some who have linked vaccines to rises in autism and other conditions to abstain from the lifesaving measures that, up until recently, was just a standard practice for parents.

As debate rages on about the supposed dangers of vaccines, one thing is undeniable: as the anti-vaccine crowd gains a more-prominent position in the national discussion, diseases that were once on the verge of total extinction are creeping their way back into the world.

The below graph shows the dramatic rise of measles in just the past few years:

The Washington Post reports on the graph:

If you want to quantify the alarming impact of the anti-vaccine movement, the chart above is a good place to start. It plots the cumulative number of new measles cases by month, for each year from 2001 to 2014.

There were 644 new measles cases in 27 states last year, according to the CDC. That’s the biggest annual number we’ve seen in nearly a quarter-century. The vast majority of people who contracted the disease were unvaccinated, including the dozens of cases related to an outbreak at Disneyland in Orange County, California, which is basically Ground Zero in our current epidemic of anti-vaccine hysteria.

A 2014 AP-GfK survey found that only 51 percent of Americans were confident that vaccines are safe and effective, which is similar to the proportion who believe that houses can be haunted by ghosts. I don’t need to make the case about how harmful these beliefs are — it’s been done plenty of times before, and moreover studies show that arguing with anti-vaxxers only makes them more confident in their beliefs.

But the latest CDC data illustrate the troubling resurgence of a disease that, as of 2000, had been declared eliminated. Anti-vaxxers are quite literally turning back the clock on decades of public health progress.

Having said all that, when I got my measles/Rubella shot as a child, it gave me the disease. A milder form, but still, you remember that. That is what a vaccine is – a milder, dead form of the virus that helps your immune system reject the disease. However, I am prone to pneumonia and will not take flu shots because of that. Plus, many times, the flu shot is ineffective. Too risky for me. It comes down to individual choice, but you have to weigh the risks for your children, family and the population as a whole. Not vaccinating boils down to not trusting the government and that is at the root of this. In my opinion though, too many parents are rolling the dice with the health of their children. I would hate to lose a child when a vaccine could have prevented it.

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

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