Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Pretty Proud of myself

I just sent this letter to my state senate representative I am pretty excited right about now

Dear Mr. Phil Bartlett,
My name is Lauren Radigan and I am emailing you today with a growing concern about our state’s health and safety. I have lived in Scarborough, Maine since the age of 12 and am now a 25 year old resident. Nine months ago I gave birth to my first daughter Mariah Rose Cowie. When I first gave birth I was asked to join several mom groups on Facebook. the mothers of one group believe in attachment parenting, organic foods and products, babywearing, and most importantly, and to my great surprise, not vaccinating their children.
                Before I became a mother I had no idea that parents were actually choosing to NOT vaccinate their children. When I learned there were many mothers making this decision I became intrigued and decided to do some research on my own.  What I found terrified me, due to these mothers who refuse to vaccinate, diseases that were once completely eradicated in America have come back. The measles for example which was believed to have been eradicated in the year 2000 has made a huge comeback. In the year 2011 there were 222 cases reported, and from January 1st to August 24th of this year there have already been 159 cases. If this trend continues it is expected that 2013 will have the highest rate of measles in 17 years. As a mother whose child is currently too young to receive the measles vaccination this absolutely petrifies me, because if my daughter is infected she will have to be hospitalized and could possibly die.
                I am well aware that we are not able to force everyone to vaccinate their children; however, there is still something we can do. The state of Maine is one of only 19 states that allow for philosophical vaccination exemptions, meaning that a parent can submit an exemption to send their child to public school with a sole reasoning that they chose not to vaccinate based on personal belief. In states that allow these the amount of exemptions between 1991 to 2004 have increased from .99% to 2.54% compared to states that don’t allow whose rates only increased from .98% to 1.48%. Out of the 159 cases of measles reported in the US so far a whopping 79% were people who were not vaccinated for philosophical reasons.
                What I would like to see changed in the state of Maine is the ability to receive a philosophical exemption for vaccinations. I believe that if we do not allow this exemption it would greatly reduce the amount of unvaccinated children in the state of Maine therefore greatly reducing the risk of measles, whooping cough, and other preventable diseases spreading in our state. My greatest fear is that if we don’t do something now that more mothers will refuse to vaccinate and we could see diseases such as small pox, yellow fever, and polio make an appearance again in the United States.I know that you are very busy, but I would greatly appreciate any help you could offer so that I could make a change here in the beautiful state of Maine before this issue becomes too large.

Sincerely,

29 comments:

  1. What are your sources for this? What supports your random facts? Plus why do you care if non-vaccinated children go to school, I thought that is why you vaccinate your children? What do they have to fear?

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    1. If non-vaccinated children with the disease go to school, other non-vaccinated kids can get it.
      Also, being vaccinated doesn't mean that you're immune, it means your body knows how to fight it.

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    2. I would love to hear your "reasons" against vaccination

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    3. You can still get a disease while vaccinated

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    4. This is just one reason among many, but since it is often overlooked, I would like to provide it to this discussion: non-vaccinated children also put children with compromised immune systems (who often cannot be vaccinated) at a FAR greater risk for the contraction of diseases whose dissemination could be easily contained through vaccination.

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    5. Google 'herd immunity.' The decisions you make affect other people, so of course they're going to care.

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    6. I sincerely hope that you don't reproduce.

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    7. Sources? Facts? How about the CDC? Every health dept in every COUNTRY and STATE. Every infectious disease specialist. Every pediatrician. These are PREVENTABLE diseases. And unimmunized children give the disease to ANYONE immunocompromised, including my 58 yo friend with rheumatoid arthritis taking Humira, my cousin with severe plaque psoriasis getting Enbrel, my 82 yo neighbor who's a brittle diabetic and gets sick from the 'love hugs' at his church. Your chances of having an adverse reaction to an immunization are MINUSCULE compared to these major infectious diseases. Go to the National Library of Medicine's website at www.medlineplus.gov and do some basic research from the hundreds of organizations and thousands of physicians and scientists who study immunizations and infectious disease. And find something else to be an 'expert' in on the Internet.

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  3. Hey, greetings fellow Mainer! Always good to see people in this state doing their part. :)

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    1. This is a fantastic example of why the rate of infectious diseases in America is increasing. By not vaccinating your child, your are decreasing the immunity of the people he or she will be around (via a phenomenon known as herd immunity) and also putting his/her health at unnecessary risk.

      The links between vaccines and autism/childhood leukemias have been thoroughly debunked by medical science (most funded by public means and foundations aka not by "vaccine companies"). In fact, the first paper to suggest a link between autism and vaccination has been retracted due to data falsification among other concerns. Still, many in the general public (yourself included) believe that "over vaccination" is a real issue (hint: it's not). This has caused many parents to ignore the vast amount of knowledge that researchers have accumulated regarding the human immune system. Let me say this again: By not vaccinating your child, you are putting everyone else at greater risk. I say this as a medical student and an autism researcher, so yes, I have sources in highly-cited journals to back these facts up. Whereas you have "internet research."

      Lauren, I wholeheartedly support what you are doing and wish you the best.

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    2. I've done research on both sides and yes I agree there are a lot of vaccinations being given to young ones and it is a little scary, but I'd rather my child be vaccinated then come down with a deadly disease. Do I think that the chicken pox vaccine is necessary? No. There are also tons of other reasons for blood cancer, autism, learning dissabilities etc tripling. Coca cola which is something many of our parents gave to us is pretty much poison. So are the ingredients in a great deal of our preserved food. Also, the age of mothers giving birth has risen which it's a known fact that that can cause autism. The very teency risk that is associated with vaccinations doesn't compare to the huge risk of catching a disease if you're not vaccinated for it.

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    3. The assertion that the rate of "childhood blood cancers, autism, and learning disabilities, etc." has tripled since the '80s is incorrect. However, even if it were correct, blaming vaccines as the cause is simply bad science.

      My rooster crowed this morning right before the sun came up. Does that mean the rooster caused the sun to rise?

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    4. Since you clearly know so much on this issue, which diseases that are currently recommended to be vaccinated against are not contagious? Hep B is not only a STD...it is a blood borne infection. There are virtually no major side effects to vaccines, where as if your child contracts a disease that is vaccinated against it can be fatal. I try to explain this without getting upset, but it is people who think everything is a conspiracy to hurt their child that end up saying this nonsense. Doctors only read biased material if you consider reality to be biased. If you are trying to tell people to learn both sides of the argument...you should too. you spelled leukemia incorrectly. Higher risk of mortality from chicken pox when you get the real vaccine. hep b is vaccinated at birth because it is inherited from the mother at birth and can easily become a chronic condition increasing your babies risk of liver cancer greatly. doctors want to help you, not make money off you. trust me, there are way way easier ways to make money than becoming a doctor. Ppl dont do that for the money.

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    5. You really have no idea how a person gets cancer...do you?
      You're taking 2 figures that increased during similar time periods and implying causality.
      I understand you're concerned and scared...but come on! Seriously?!?

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    6. A lot of other things have changed too. It would take a lot more research than that to connect the two.

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  5. Y'all need to read up on how so many diseases are merely renamed.

    The disease was never "eradicated", they just called it something else when people kept getting it despite vaccinations.

    http://www.whale.to/vaccines/polio.html

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    1. A very strange assertion is the hallmark of this article. I actually looked through it and then looked at your references. Most were from more than 30, 40 or 50 years ago. The exception was a Rolling Stones article. I think I may look a little deeper at your sources, but my initial impression that your information seems to be more of the conspiracy theory type, rather than scientific research.
      I find your comparison of Cocksackie and Polio weird, but interesting enough to pursue.

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  6. I heard about this whole pro-no-vaccination thing not too long ago. It didn't make sense then, and it still makes no sense now. I'm also baffled by some of the comments on here.

    Good luck with your letter.

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  7. I choose to remain skeptical of vaccines because I (as well as you) don't know what's in these vaccines and how it reacts to people's different body types. Refute all you want, but I know that they're 7 billion different bodies out there and with all modern technology, there is no way to know 100% how different chemicals effect the body. Just because I am skeptical doesn't mean I'm anti-vaccine, I just believe that people should have a choice. I also know that it isn't as simple as choosing to or not to get the vaccine, your choice has repercussions. Lives can be lost by your choice and these aren't just statistics we're talking about here, they're human lives. So my conclusion is, don't force people to taking vaccines when you don't know how it could effect them.

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    1. "Lives can be lost by your choice and these aren't just statistics we're talking about here, they're human lives."

      You make it sound as if they are separated. They are not.

      If you vaccinate, you become a part of a group from which statistics may be drawn. It is a different group if you don't vaccinate (it is one or the other - there is no third group or middle ground). We can draw conclusions based on the infection rates of the two groups. That conclusion is overwhelmingly in favour of vaccination.

      "I (as well as you) don't know what's in these vaccines and how it reacts to people's different body types." Personalised medicine sounds wonderful but we are barely scratching the surface. You'll be waiting at least a decade before you see it. In the meantime, we have vaccines. Like any medicine they are not 100% effective 100% of the time but we are better off with them than without.
      "there is no way to know 100% how different chemicals effect the body." Oh, but there is! We know that the chemical we know as "water" is very good for you in doses ~ 2 litres per day. We also know that too much salt, potassium, iron or cyanide is fatal.

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  8. Good on you Lauren! I commend your effort and call to action.

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  9. I asked this already, but where are your sources for the information that you are giving. You need to give citation your references, for all the readers know you are just making it up as you go along. You are just writing your opinion. This has no merit or weight at all.
    Right now most of the comments are peoples opinions based on your opinion.

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    1. I hate to admit it, but Marvin is right. You really need to cite your sources Lauren. It's not that hard. Just type "According to [site you got the data from]" and the rest of your sentence. Otherwise this is just fact-less opinion

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    2. I emailed them to him. I thought I posted them, but I was wrong. My letter to them included the sources, but I forgot to post them into the blog.

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  10. Keep at it Lauren! Help remove the ignorance with education!

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  11. I was vaccinated while my father was in the military. Military bases have other vaccines that are given to children due to being able to go overseas.

    I also played with (and probably ate) lead paint chips and asbestos pipe wraps back in the late 70's early 80's.

    Both my brothers and sister, who all got same as I did have three children each. And not a single one of us have any medical issue's other than arthritis, from the vaccines.

    So Lauren, keep it up! btw, orignally from Kittery.

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  12. I keep saying (and I hope others will too) that this is NOT a vaccinate vs. non-vaccination issue. This is a Vaccinate vs ILLNESS issue! Vaccination vs death, paralysis, and disfigurement issue! Thank you for this!!

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