I have no problem with ignorance...we're all ignorant from time to time and to different degrees. Ignorance is not knowing something, and omniscience is in short supply in the world. The word "ignorant" is not a pejorative unless the ignorance is deliberate. No, my problem lies with stupidity. Not the kind like looking for your glasses when they're on your head, or voting for certain political candidates. But I absolutely despise stupid actions and stupid statements by people who should know better, particularly people who appear to understand vaccines enough to twist facts into lies meant to deceive non-experts for reasons known only to themselves. Case in point: a recent posting on 16 reasons not to immunize your kids against so-called swine flu. In this post, the author spouts half-truths and builds a case based on misrepresentation and -- in many cases -- outright ignorance. I won't address these point-by-point, but a few howlers deserve note:

Health authorities tacitly admit prior flu vaccination programs were of worthless value. Really? I missed that piece of news. Perhaps a citation may help us all understand when and where these nameless authorities made such a statement.

Adjuvants are added to vaccines to boost production of antibodies but may trigger autoimmune reactions. Theoretically possible, but no established link has ever been shown. By training I'm an immunotoxicologist and speak with some authority of this subject. Not sure what the author's credentials are to back this up.

Some adjuvants are mercury (thimerosal), aluminum and squalene. Lead is very harmful to the brain. Then why would you sign a consent form for your kids to be injected with mercury, which is even more brain-toxic than lead? Get your facts straight. Thimerosal is added as a preservative to some vaccines... it is not an adjuvant. Squalene is a natural constituent of the human body. As for mercury being more toxic than lead, perhaps a quick scan through a toxicology text would clue you in on the differences between ethylmercury and methylmercury.  Oops, sorry... we're suggesting that facts have a part to play in this discussion.

Over-vaccination is a common practice now in America. American children are subjected to 29 vaccines by the age of two. This means a little bit of disease is being injected into young children continually during their most formative years! Dr. Paul Offit has published some interesting papers pointing out that while the number of vaccines administered to children has indeed increased, the total number of antigens (the business part of the vaccine) has actually decreased due to improvements in vaccine technology. Let alone the fact that all 29 vaccines are never administered simultaneously. There is absolutely no evidence that the immune system can be "overwhelmed", particularly by vaccination. A "little bit of disease"? Does this author even understand how modern vaccines are made? (By the way, nice use of the exclamation point to drive home a point.)

Modern medicine has no explanation for autism, despite its continued rise in prevalence. Yet autism is not reported among Amish children who go unvaccinated. Amish children don't use zippers, ride in cars or have their picture taken either, so maybe these should be investigated as causes as well. There's a philosophical error "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc" (after this, therefore because of this). Just because two things happen together doesn't mean that they are related.

This triple reassortant virus appears to be man made. The H1N1 swine flu virus of 2009 coincidentally appeared in Mexico on the same week that President Nicolas Sarkozy of France visited Mexican president Felipe Calderon, to announce that France intends to build a multi-million dollar vaccine plant in Mexico. Get out your tin foil helmets to protect your brain waves from the Bilderbergers while you're at it. This alone should be enough to discredit all the foolishness that preceeded it.

It goes on and on, but hopefully you get the point. Can our fellow Americans really be so dim as to believe any of this? Sadly, probably enough to put children at risk of contracting a disease that in this day and age should be readily controlled. If the author took the time to string together this collection of half-truths, it suggests to me that they understood at least some of what they were reading. One might be charitable and conclude that there is an axe to grind here, disguised as a clarion call to save the children of the world from evil vaccine manufacturers. From where I stand, it's willful stupidity that is far more pernicious than any infection we face, and infinitely harder to combat.

--R.V. House