For more on vaccines keep reading….

Can we talk about how ableism has somehow become part of the conversation lately when we talk vaccines?

Why do we even need to talk about it?  Vaccines are one of the most important advancements in human health. 

• A major landmark study found global immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million livesover the past 50 years. The vast majority of lives saved – 101 million – were those of infants.

• Immunization is the single greatest contribution of any health intervention to ensuring babies not only see their first birthdays but continue leading healthy lives into adulthood. (did you know? “Long Covid” isn’t the first virus with long-term sequelae.  “long polio” or post-polio syndrome has been around for decades”)

• Of the vaccines included in the study, the measles vaccination had the most significant impact on reducing infant mortality, accounting for 60% of the lives saved due to immunization. This vaccine will likely remain the top contributor to preventing deaths in the future.

• Over the past 50 years, vaccination against 14 diseases (diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningitis A, pertussis, invasive pneumococcal disease, polio, rotavirus, rubella, tetanus, tuberculosis, and yellow fever) has directly contributed to reducing infant deaths by 40% globally.

Is this all Big Pharma Funding?

Disclosure:  I don’t get paid by pharmaceutical companies,  with the exception of the exactly one time I did a paid session –– where I ironically talked about de-prescribing medication in chronic disease. I don’t work in general practice (so I don’t actually give childhood vaccines myself). I do have post-doctoral work in molecular biology and was a former Fellow in the Eck Institute for Global Health. I have worked in publicly funded infectious disease research (nope, no pharma money)  I am a member of the WHO Fides collaboration (this is not paid or sponsored).  I have researched and published multiple papers, including on Covid.

Why are we talking about Vaccines right now?

One of the worlds most famous conspiracy theorist campaigners has just been put in charge of the US organizations that regulate and look after public health, including vaccination and disease prevention.  We can expect a surge in health misinformation, especially across English-language social media [Note:  this health misinformation is not limited to vaccines, it also includes harmful ideas like denying AIDS exists.]  If you don’t know about this, you should so catch up here. 

Measles

 This is all happening at the same time that there is a measles outbreak in the US right now, and we will be hearing more.  100 people have sought medical attention in Texas, which means many more are probably infected and have not sought care. Did you know? Measles is the most contagious infectious disease.  Unfortuantely, as more children get measles, we will likely start to see the complications: pneumonia, sepsis, inflammation of the brain, loss of sight/hearing, or death. We regularly see measles in Ireland, unfortunately, and last year in 2024 we had one death.  The last major outbreak of measles in Ireland:  355 children attended the hospital emergency department with measles, and 111 were admitted with dehydration, pneumonia, tracheitis (inflammation of the airways). 13 children equired treatment in the intensive care unit; 7 needed ventilators.  3 children died. You will often see a comment in social media that is something like “I don’t remember measles being that bad when I was a kid.” The reason we see this is a phenomemon called “survivor bias” – we don’t hear from people who’s voice to share their experience no longer exists or who are unable to voice it. In othe rcases, patients are recalling Rubella infections (“German measles”) which is dangerous to pregnant women but otherwise much milder than measles.

What causes autism and

how can the anti-vaccine campaigns sometimes be harmful those with autism?

Firstly, Vaccines do not cause autism.  It has been fully studied, extensively.  There is no connection.

1. Let’s just start with that the entire argument is worryingly ableist.  It would be horrible to think that someone is so profoundly ableist that they would rather have their child suffer or die than have autism.  Though, to be fair, very few people who are vaccine skeptics have followed their incorrect argument to its logical conclusion.  It is simply that vaccines have become a victim of their own success:  many people have forgotten iron lungs and polio lockdowns or the lifelong weakness (polio), infertility (mumps), loss of vision or hearing (measles/mumps), death ( measles in Ireland last year, high rates of death from whooping cough in infants globally, and recently a child died from diphtheria in the US).

2. The conversation around vaccines and autism means that real work on autism doesn’t always get the attention it needs.  For example, we now know that somewhere around 80% (60-90% in studies) of autism cases are genetic.  Factors that are modifiable (means that we might be able to influence them) include things such as better pre-natal care for mothers and a cleaner environment.

3. It doesn’t help the conversation that is so interesting:  the ever growing way that we understand neurodiversity and the human brain. The diversity of how every human brain interacts with other people and experiences the world is real.  There is probably a wider spectrum of how each person’s brain works – how the brain problem solves, communicates, experiences the world, and interacts with others — than has previously been appreciated. It is an ongoing area of research – and what was defined as “autism” 20 or 30 years ago has now widened to a much larger spectrum! This has led the phenomenon of new high rates of autism – the rates of neurodiversity are due to the new ways we assess and diagnose it!

4.   Should autism even be talked about as just a disability?  It’s worth highlighting with our growing understandings of neurodiversity, some of the worlds most talented scientists and artists likely had autism, from Thomas Jefferson to Isaac Newton, Michaelangelo to Einstein.  Many artists, composers, inventors, creators,  and scientists today are thought to have autism; some have been open, some not.  Elon Musk only recently shared his. Their ability to interact with the world differently has profoundly improved  our world (well, for the most part – let’s just say nothing on Musk’s current projects or legacy until we see how it turns out).

Read more:  https://autisticadvocacy.org/2025/02/asan-condemns-announcement-of-presidents-make-america-healthy-again-commission-and-harmful-ideas-about-autism-and-other-disabilities/

Extreme Views: Beyond Humans

How extreme can the anti-vaccine movement get?   Unbelievably, here are anti-vaccination vets.  Yes, there is a strange idea that vaccinating your pet against rabies (legally required in countries that have the disease endemic) could cause a pet to have autism. Not only is it dangerous – rabies is 100% fatal to animals and people – but raises questions about the grifting practitioners who are diagnosing neurodiversity in a labradoodle. Unnecessary suffering for animals is cruel:  Be responsible pet owner and keep your pet’s vaccines up-to-date.  

Is it a bit of a Grift?

Many aspects of the anti-vaccine movements are for-profit ventures.    From unethical doctors who charge premium fees to grant vaccine exemptions, to those who prey on populations with poor science literacy or those that exploit parental guilt.  There are entire industries devoted to selling parents ill-advised, expensive, or in some cases potentially harmful, autism cures or detoxes.  The idea that you can remove vaccine “toxins” through a detox demonstrates poor understanding of what is in a vaccine, how a vaccine works, and just basic science.

Are you vaccine hesitant?  That is fair.  However, you do deserve to make an informed decision based on correct information. Start here.

Did you know? Since the very first vaccine, there were the very first vaccine skeptics? By the way, what happened to the smallpox vaccine? Learn and Listen more here.   The world used the vaccine programme to eradicate smallpox, and then we got rid of the vaccine. That’s how vaccines work.  Prior to a modern anti-vacccine movement around 20 years ago, we were close to this for measles and polio.