Bad Astronomy

Vaccination quickies

A few items have come up in the past couple of days about vaccines and the people who understand reality versus the ones who don’t.

1) Paul Offit, who wrote the book Autism’s False Prophets, has a nice writeup in the New York Times this week. He has received all sorts of death threats because he wants to save children’s lives. Nice. Also mentioned are Amanda Peet, who supports Offit, as well as the villains in this story like Jenny McCarthy.

2) I was surprised to hear that there is an antivax movement against animal vaccinations as well. Science-Based Medicine has an interesting article on the real benefits and risks with animal vaccinations, and is worth a read if you’re a pet owner.

3) Are you a parent with an opinion on vaccinations? Then send an email to Jenn Savedge (jenn at thegreenparent dot com), who writes for The Green Parent. She says she has talked to many experts, but wants opinions from parents who have weighed this issue themselves. If you support vaccinations – and you should – then send her a note. If you think vaccines cause autism, then read the links on this blog post.