Those working in vaccine safety do not deserve hate mail.

So I have recently come to the realization that most of the people in my life don't actually understand what it is that I do. Or, for the most part, public health in general. This led to the brilliant realization that I could use my blog to disseminate relevant information (to the 5 people that may actually read this, most of which do not require such information...). For example, my boss had an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this week (JAMA), and the story has been receiving nationwide coverage. I should mention (since he won't point it out) that JAMA is widely regarded as the foremost journal in medine and public health. Just so we're clear.

I have included various links to related information (I hope they work). If not, google pertussis/whooping cough and exemptions.

JAMA Article
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/296/14/1757

UF Coverage
http://www.news.health.ufl.edu/story.aspx?ID=4281

NY Times Editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/opinion/12thu4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The point of sharing this information with you was to make sure you had the background information when I began to rant (now). People are dumb. I believe my sister-in-law made this point a few weeks back, and now I must concur. My boss and those he works with get a lot of crap from people who don't understand what it is they do, and/or science in general.

For example, it is because of Neal Halsey that thimerosal (a type of mercury used as a preservative) is no longer in vaccines. Was this necessary? Verdict's still out, but probably not. Was it the right thing to do given the government wasn't sure if it was harmful? Clearly. Dr. Halsey, however, was WIDELY criticized in the scientific community for acting before he had conclusive scientific evidence. He acted because he is an advocate for vaccine safety.

That being said, you'd be amazed how many critics he has. Anti-vaccine advocates have no idea what happened with the thimerosal issue. They accuse Dr. Halsey of working for vaccine manufacturers and pushing harmful vaccines on children. Stupid people.

The actual point of this was that my boss got several hate-type letters after the publication of the above-mentioned article. One even compared him to Dr. Halsey (heaven forbid).

So to set the record straight, my boss and I (and those he works with) are not opposed to vaccine exemptions. However, I agree with him that it should not be easier to exempt than to be vaccinated. Those who exempt must be doing so out of firmly held beliefs reached after careful consideration of impartial scientific evidence, not just because they don't want to take their kid to the doctor. People are dumb.