Anti-vax death watch

A four-week-old baby died from whooping cough recently because vaccine rates are too low in that part of Australia to provide herd immunity. A heart rending appearance by the parents is available on YouTube with more details at Bad Astronomy.

A correspondent for the Guardian was “lucky”. His 11 month-old daughter didn’t die from measles—she just had to go through needless suffering because parents in his part of England aren’t vaccinating their children. His child was too young for the MMR vaccine—it is usually given at 13 months—and should have been able to rely on herd immunity to keep her free from the disease. Unfortunately, vaccine rates have dropped all over England and preventable diseases are making a comeback.

In an article on Friday he made an analogy that sums the situation up eloquently.

The decision by many of my neighbours not to vaccinate their children is on a par with the drunk who decides to get into his car to drive home. It is a personally reckless action that also endangers the lives of everyone else on the road. Society should view the MMR refuseniks with the same degree of scorn.

Jenny McCarthy is a moron.

[Time:] Your collaborator recommends that parents accept only the haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB) and tetanus vaccine for newborns and then think about the rest. Not polio? What about the polio clusters in unvaccinated communities like the Amish in the U.S.? What about the 2004 outbreak that swept across Africa and Southeast Asia after a single province in northern Nigeria banned vaccines?
[McCarthy:] I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their fucking fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s shit. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism.

This woman is dangerous. Unfortunately, people listen to her and Oprah. Their children suffer as a consequence but more importantly, immunocompromised children and children who are too young to get vaccines are dying because of their stupidity.

A new site has been set up to keep track of the number of people she is responsible for killing and injuring. Jenny McCarthy Body Count uses the weekly data from the CDC on illnesses and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. It’s truly sad.

Jenny McCarthy Body Count

Another site has been set up to Stop Jenny McCarthy. It exposes her lies about autism and vaccines.

Update: Larry King is an even bigger moron

It looks like Larry King is going to pander to that idiot:

Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy get serious about autism! She says her son has “recovered” from the condition that affects millions. But many medical experts say there is no cure. Questions and answers from guests on both sides of the controversy.

There is no controversy. There is a manufactroversy where people who have a new book out conspire with television hosts to pimp each other.