# Anti-vaxxers are ignorant scumbags that kill children **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626 "2016-09-01T01:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 57
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1122 "2024-02-20T03:36:58Z")
Nah, he’ll recommend a round of Ivermectin, bleach injection, and shoving light bulbs in various body cavities. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1123 "2024-02-22T01:44:03Z")
> But in [a letter sent to parents late Tuesday](https://wsvn.com/news/local/broward/students-return-to-manatee-bay-elementary-following-6-confirmed-cases-of-measles/), Florida Surgeon General [Joseph Ladapo](https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/03/florida-surgeon-general-wrong-on-vaccines-and-bad-at-his-job-cdc-and-fda-say/)—known for [spreading anti-vaccine rhetoric](https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/floridas-new-surgeon-general-skeptical-of-vaccines-opposes-masks/) and [vaccine misinformation](https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/floridas-polarizing-surgeon-general-accused-of-manipulating-covid-data/)—indicated that unvaccinated students can skip the normally recommended quarantine period. > **[Unvaccinated Florida kids exposed to measles can skip quarantine, officials say](https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/unvaccinated-florida-kids-exposed-to-measles-can-skip-quarantine-officials-say/)** > > On Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of the school's 1,067 students were reportedly absent. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1124 "2024-02-22T13:14:16Z")
Ladapo has a “Public Health Integrity Committee”\* to advise him on public health policy and other health matters. In addition to the usual Covid cranks/denialists like Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kuldorff, the committee includes Bret Weinstein. Bret Weinstein!! This is a self-identified “progressive” who in addition to a large swath of Covid loony-binnery, thinks HIV doesn’t cause AIDS, No matter what you think of Florida and Floridians, they deserve better than this.; \*a more apt name would be the Ministry of Health Truth. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1125 "2024-02-23T08:28:14Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Polio is an example of a disease _worsened_ by improvements in sanitation. That’s fascinating. At one point a few years ago I ran into anti-vaxxers who were convinced that the decrease in polio after the vaccine was actually from improvements in sanitation. I was around back then, got a polio vaccine shot in kindergarten, and I didn’t notice any big sanitation improvements. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1126 "2024-02-23T13:18:03Z")
It also doesn’t explain other countries, who saw polio rates drop around the time vaccinations were introduced, despite widely varying levels of public sanitation around the world. Nor the continuing prevalence of polio in some nations where vaccination drives have failed or stalled (due to CIA shenanigans, conflict, local resistance, etc) despite improvements in sanitation over the last century. Why, it’s almost like these anti-vax nutjobs don’t actually do any real research and merely glom onto any convenient argument that supports their preconceived preferences! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1127 "2024-02-23T14:03:06Z")
Everyone knows that western countries like the U.S. were literally reeking cesspools with horrible nutritional standards, but all that suddenly changed in the mid-1950s-1960s causing dramatic declines in infectious diseases. Introduction of corresponding vaccines just before disease incidence fell off a cliff was sheer coincidence! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1128 "2024-02-24T00:50:29Z")
Well, it is true that the [introduction of a properly functioning sewer system](https://heritagecalling.com/2019/03/28/the-story-of-londons-sewer-system/) can cause a huge dropoff of cholera, but urban sewerage systems were in place and doing their job for decades while measles, mumps, rubella, and polio still ravaged families. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1129 "2024-03-12T20:38:01Z")
> **[300 people possibly exposed to measles at California hospital](https://www.livescience.com/health/viruses-infections-disease/300-people-possibly-exposed-to-measles-at-california-hospital)** > > Officials are trying to contact around 300 people who may have been exposed to measles at the UC Davis Medical Center Emergency Department on March 5, when an infected child was treated there. This would be of no concern if people were universally vaccinated. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1130 "2024-03-13T18:13:58Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > This would be of no concern if people were universally vaccinated. But then they’d all be magnetic, and stuck to light poles and cars and such. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1131 "2024-03-15T16:52:18Z")
It’s going to take many more outbreaks (and on a larger scale) to get childhood vaccination rates back to where they should be. Those who say “we don’t see (X disease) anymore, so why vaccinate?” need to be reminded of why (X disease) became so rare. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1132 "2024-03-15T16:55:54Z")
Spot on. Sadly, there will be many innocent children, of vaxxers and anti-vaxxers both, who will pay the price for the antivaxxer adults’ folly. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1133 "2024-03-15T17:08:39Z")
I was born before the MMR vaccine, and I had measles. It’s a bad disease and left me with some (thankfully, minor) ear issues. There’s a group Christmas photograph with me, and if you look closely you can see my slightly flushed face and feverishly bright eyes. But, hey, it’s Christmas! There I am super-spreading among my cousins. I can remember two aunts being terrified when they heard I had measles, because they both had infants. Also, I remember going to the local County health clinic to get approved to return to school. You couldn’t go back without a certificate of non-infectiousness! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1134 "2024-03-19T18:32:57Z")
> **[Health experts plead for unvaxxed Americans to get measles shot as cases rise](https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/health-experts-plead-for-unvaxxed-americans-to-get-measles-shot-as-cases-rise/)** > > The US hit last year's total in under 12 weeks, suggesting we're in for a bad time. I doubt anyone will listen. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1135 "2024-03-20T00:56:56Z")
To those who won’t get the shots, think of my great grandmother. She was carrying twins and had measles. The children were born alive, but one, the one that looked healthy, died the day after birth. Thankfully the other child, my great uncle George, lived. Ask people, do you want to risk losing a baby? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1136 "2024-03-20T03:19:12Z")
I wish ladapo could be sued for malpractice. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1137 "2024-03-20T14:00:13Z")
Antivaxers are flogging the idea that Covid-19 vaccines [have given people prion diseases](https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2024/03/18/prions-why-did-it-have-to-be-prions/) like CJD. Never mind that such disorders have only been shown to occur decades after the kind of event they’re imagining (peripheral inoculation from a contaminated source). ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1138 "2024-03-20T14:42:57Z")
Forgive me for not knowing, but I had measles as a child. I don’t vaccinated for it now, do I? ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1139 "2024-03-20T15:38:57Z")
After a short [Googling](https://www.sfcdcp.org/infectious-diseases-a-to-z/measles/), it looks like you are (almost) immune for life if you have had it as a child. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1140 "2024-03-20T15:53:49Z")
[Checks the forum, good, this is the Pit… Not directed at you, but to the anti-vaxxers and lukewarmers.] Sadly, as I have seen in past discussions, a good number of people do think that some inconvenience is “deadly” to their freedoms, what about the freedoms of others that have real issues with vaccines and are exposed when there is no herd immunity? In practice the antivaxxers and lukewarmers don’t care that the vulnerable have the right to life too. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1141 "2024-03-20T16:08:50Z")
You’ll encounter fierce resentment at the idea that we owe something to others - namely the very young, immuncompromised and elderly - in making decisions about vaccination. The idea that we should be free to do what we want in the face of a pandemic while a nebulous “protection” strategy is employed for the vulnerable, is at the heart of the [Great Barrington Declaration](http://queensu.ca/gazette/stories/5-failings-great-barrington-declaration). > [@](#): > > “…individual people, based upon their own perception of their risk of dying from COVID-19 and other personal circumstances, personally choose the risks, activities and restrictions they prefer.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=58)