For a long time it was taken for granted to vaccinate his children against dangerous diseases such as measles or polio. However, the number of vaccine opponents and skeptics has increased worldwide. Many parents seem to be confused by this and want to decide for themselves about the health of their children. I consider vaccination opponents to be dubious and I am determined for the upcoming statutory vaccination obligation.
The boom of vaccination opponents
In order to get an impression of what is published on the subject of vaccination, I typed “vaccinate” at Amazon in the search bar – and was shocked by the result. Among the books on offer are many titles like:
- “The vaccine illusion: infectious diseases, vaccinations and the suppressed facts”,
- “The measles lie: What you should know about the measles – and what the health authorities are not telling you”,
- “Vaccinate, until the doctor comes: When profits go over health at pharmaceutical companies”
- or quite dramatically: “side effect death”.
It looks similar, if one wants to inform oneself about the topic via Google: One lands fast on sides like impfen-nein-danke.de or at first seriously-sounding offers like center of the health – an unscientific Webportal, which as different sources report, well operated by conspiracy theorists.
Arguments in Comic Sans and Word Art
If you look closely at the anti-vaccination books, you will notice that these are mostly published by esoteric publishers. One should be skeptical of a publisher such as Kopp-Verlag, which otherwise publishes books on the alleged healing power of gemstones or UFO sightings. Even if the presentations of these books and the many anti-vaccine websites seem trashy (the Internet of the early 2000s sends their regards), many parents do not seem to notice in their research that they are falling for dubious spinners.
Parents are unsettled by vaccination opponents
Rather than arguing, such pages tend to use exaggerated portrayals of vaccination and the denunciation of recognized scientists or the World Health Organization. Even though I had the opposite impression in my research: Vaccine opponents like to present themselves as if they belonged with their opinion to an oppressed minority, which one forbids the mouth. So it says in the conclusion of the introductory text of vaccine-nein-danke.de : “Who believes that vaccination benefits, he has no education, but indoctrination!” I’m just so brainwashed with my attitude. The media are also criticized:
The mainstream media are almost exclusively imitative and industry-oriented. Vaccine opponents, however, are only interested in the truth and are close to the mothers and fathers.
from an article on the website impfen-nein-danke.de
Probably I will not be able to convince a retracted vaccine opponent of this kind, but I swear that I am not paid for this article by the evil pharmaceutical industry! Joking aside: A study by the University of Erfurt has shown that parents can be influenced quickly by short searches on websites like these. Without the necessary prior knowledge, it is not so easy to remember who is behind these offers. In addition, many parents simply want the best for their children and be unsettled by the Angstrhetorik the vaccine opponents.
But does not vaccination cause autism?
Anyone who riffles through the texts of vaccine opponents, notes that vaccination is allegedly to blame for just about all the diseases we know: whether autism, allergies, developmental disorders, cancer or diabetes. After all, vaccination weakens the immune system instead of strengthening it. Numerous links, especially to autism, are now considered refuted. That vaccination triggers autism is a myth that has spread through a British study. The rumor holds up well, although it is now known that behind the study lawyers stuck that wanted to lament profitable against vaccine manufacturers.
There are many examples like these. Nevertheless, vaccination opponents do not tire of coming up with curious counter-arguments. Some even believe that there are generally no viruses that cause disease. In order not to bore you too much with studies, I will not go into all the claims at this point. But if you want to inform yourself, you can do so on the website of the Federal Center for Health Education . Also recommended is a consequence of the time crime podcasts on sudden child kill: Here, vaccine opponents had exploited the case of a deceased child for their propaganda, although this had not died of vaccine damage:
Vaccination criticism as prosperity phenomenon?
More than refuting any of the contravenous arguments, I’m interested in why they find so much to listen to. After all, the incidents of recent years would rather convince parents of vaccination: In October 2014, a measles wave was rampant in Germany – not in a backwoods village, but in Berlin. Especially in the district of Prenzlauer Berg, which is known for its wealthy academic parents , one is particularly vaccine critical .
While aid agencies such as UNICEF are working to ensure that people in developing countries have access to vital tetanus vaccines , more and more people in this country are voluntarily rejecting vaccinations. This suggests the idea that vaccine criticism is also a kind of prosperity phenomenon: When people are no longer confronted with life-threatening infectious diseases in their everyday lives, they begin to doubt the usefulness of vaccinations. This circumstance is the proof of the effectiveness of vaccinations as a reason to stop now. This phenomenon is called flock immunity: only if there is a nearly comprehensive vaccine protection, the community is protected. The exact principle can be explained here, But this comic nicely sums up the principle: