Assalamu-alaikum,
Ahh, the big Vaccine Conspiracy continues! lol
Im tight on time atm.....so Im not able to completely engage in this discussion.
Howver, seeing that I' ve had this discussion on a previous forum that I was a member of, I have brought forward my views on this here:
The following points/ analogies have been used to explain a few important points with regards to vaccines, insha Allah:
1. Realising the Importance of Weighing Benefits vs. Risks:
Examples:
We are all aware of articles of the following nature, regarding the use of cell-phones:
Mobile phone use 'raises children's risk of brain cancer fivefold'
Alarming new research from Sweden on the effects of radiation raises fears that today's youngsters face an epidemic of the disease in later life
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...ens-risk-of-brain-cancer-fivefold-937005.html
There are hundreds of sites that will support this point of view....so why, dont we all stop using cell-phones??
Is it because, despite articles such as these, we believe that:
a) These risks related to cell-phone use are not yet sufficiently proven or over-whelming significant?
b) Even if such a risk does indeed exist, its relatively small....so we are willing to continue to use this device because the
benefits of it far outnumber potential harms.
c) Or perhaps, in these cases, you rely on information from the 'experts' in the field, e.g. the National Cancer Institute, that provides a far more balanced view on this topic:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellphones
Another example:
Did you know, that in the USA there are about 40000 deaths in car crashes every year - that suggests that if you drive for an average amount of 50 years, your chances of dying in a car are roughly
1 in 100 !!
Yet, we prefer to
live with this risk, and continue to drive cars - dont we?
Why? Because we see the
benefit of this form of transport, and in our minds, this far out-weighs the potential risk of an accident (even though this risk is so high!)
YET, when it comes to vaccines, we quickly go into 'conspiracy mode', should any adverse effect result.
The fact that these vaccines come with
potential side effects (as with all other drugs, in fact even herbal/ 'natural remedies'), is disclosed to the public....this is not kept under-cover....read the drug inserts for yourself.
The fact that for example, the risk of developing Guillaine Barre Syndrome post vaccination is about 1 in 1 million......the studies showing this are replicated across the globe - (and no, not by the drug company/ FDA, but by hospitals and specialists in the field).
....this fact is completely ignored, and instead the 1 in a million person, who unfortunately, and by the will of Allah, develops an adverse reaction draws the most attention. Understandably, for the family involved, it would be distressing (if it is actually caused by the vaccine at all - most, not all, cases are false alarms) -
YET, this is all we seem to remember!
Lets look at a few more Risk from disease vs. Risk from Vaccine Stats:
DISEASE
Measles
Pneumonia: 6 in 100
Encephalitis: 1 in 1,000
Death: 2 in 1,000
Rubella
Congenital Rubella Syndrome: 1 in 4 (if woman becomes infected early in pregnancy)
VACCINES
MMR
Encephalitis or severe allergic reaction:
1 in 1,000,000
Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis vs. DTap Vaccine
DISEASE
Diphtheria
Death: 1 in 20
Tetanus
Death: 2 in 10
Pertussis
Pneumonia: 1 in 8
Encephalitis: 1 in 20
Death: 1 in 1,500
VACCINES
DTaP
Continuous crying, then full recovery: 1 in 1000
Convulsions or shock, then full recovery: 1 in 14,000
Acute encephalopathy: 0-10.5 in 1,000,000
Death: None proven
How hypocritical to casually disregard the enormous benefits of these agents (Or is that we are so
convinced that there must be a conspiracy based on the few, random, and often unproven cases of adverse reactions!)
Do we forget though, that before the widespread use of measles vaccine, its incidence was so high that infection with measles was felt to be "as inevitable as death and taxes."!
Do we forget these sort of statistics??
2. Know where to find your information from.
If I perform a google/ youtube search on 'islam' or 'prophet muhammed (sallahu alaihi wasalam)' - how many conflicting, and often blasphemous sites will I find?
So, what will the chances be of anyone basing their complete 'research' on this methodolgy, actually finding imaan?
Not very good, if you consider just how many 'convincing' anti-islamic sites are!
The same goes for this topic. For every 'anti-vaccine' website, which is backed by very little evidential support....I can find you similiar, if not more 'pro-vaccine' sites - based on actual studies.
With regards to the 'squalene' controversy, you may wish to refer to the article below, which discusses everything you could possibly wish to know, without concealing the negatives:
http://0-www.sciencedirect.com.inno...af9897fa817/1-s2.0-S0264410X08003861-main.pdf
You see, its very easy to sit behind our laptops, in the comfort of our homes, and do 'research' on such topics.
But the cruel reality of the situation is that people like myself, and many other medical professionals are actual first-hand witnesses to patients such as these:
Requiring intubation and ventilation for
proven H1N1-related pneumonias
We have
seen the devastating, and lifelong crippling nature of polio, such as this:
And we have treated patients during the recent outbreak of measles, who look similiar to this....often with little success (esp. if in adults):
And YET, we
fail to see this flood of 'victims of vaccines'....which, undoubtedly, we should be witnessing by now, considering the
millions of vaccinated people around the world!
3. Everything in life was developed by trial and error:
How many attempts did it take Thomas Edison to create the light bulb?
How many attempts did it take Henry Ford to develop the first car?
Do you not realise that all forms of science and technology, depends to an extent on trial and error?
Why would this be different in medicine?
Of course, because human lives are involved, all drugs undergo extensive trials - first animal based....and then human trials -
before being actually released for public consumption.
And these trials are not conducted exclusively by the drug company - by phase 3 trials, they are conducted at multiple independant hospitals.
If any significant side effects are recognised (and these can not be hidden from practioners world-wide), they are withdrawn from the market.
At the end of the day, its an individual decision.
Make your own choice, based on the information that
you wish to believe....
just dont embark on smear campaigns, without providing everyone ALL the facts - there's always 2 sides to every story.
For myself, I'll take my <1% of something seriously going wrong (and thats an over-estimate), and raise you the > 30% mortality on measles (underestimate)!
All the best now.
:wa: