This Is What People Did Before Vaccines, Dummy

This viral tweet offers yet ANOTHER reason vaccines are necessary

Sometimes the best way to win an argument is with, “Just the facts, ma’am.” And that’s exactly what one Twitter user did when she recently posted about vaccines. It’s perfect because of its simplicity, truth, and of course, just the right amount of snark.

Twitter user Elise Kumar from Sydney, Australia decided to break it down for people who still argue against vaccinations and use the “back in the day people did ‘x’ and it was fine.” Yeah, not so much here.

We’ve all heard anti-vaxxer’s arguments about why they choose not to vaccinate their children. And while in almost all cases when it comes to parenting decisions, I’d say, “To each their own,” that’s not the case with vaccinations.

Most vaccine-preventable diseases are spread from person to person, so if one person gets an infectious disease, they can spread it to others. That’s why ‘herd immunity’ is so important — you aren’t just making that decision for your child — you’re making it for everyone around you who are unable or are too young to receive vaccinations themselves.

Case in point:

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1038819044344901637

Another user pointed out just how many deaths are still occurring around the world where vaccines aren’t available. These are preventable diseases which vaccines are designed to irradicate. Choosing not to vaccinate only increases the chances of these types of diseases resurfacing. In fact, as of July, 2018, the CDC reported a total of 107 cases of measles across 21 states. In all of 2017, for example, 118 people from 15 states had confirmed cases.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1038557876439183360

And these won’t just impact a person near-term. One Twitter user noted that complications from diseases like measles can have complications a decade after the initial illness, which can even lead to death:

Still another mentioned a friend of her losing an entire year at school because they drank unpasteurized milk. According to the FDA, raw milk that hasn’t been pasteurized (which kills bacteria) can carry Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, which “are responsible for causing numerous foodborne illnesses.”

And as always, we can count on Twitter for a little Oregon Trail humor as well:

According to a study cited in the Los Angeles Times, researchers found that anti-vaxxers tend to be among the first to get sick when an outbreak occurs, and that they also can become a “key accelerant,” spreading the illness to others not immune.

If you’re still on the fence do the research. Ask your pediatrician, read scientific documentation, understand history. Putting your child and others in danger because of your own beliefs isn’t just irresponsible, it can have lasting, devastating affects for the population as a whole.