I hate anti-vaxxers

That's the first thing that comes up when you search now. I can't help that. It's still a fact not an insinuation...

You are quoting AI!

What if your child dies of a disease you could have prevented?

Not 'insinuating' anything, thanks. It WAS on the decline. A quick Google search reveals:

"While the smallpox vaccine, developed in the late 1700s, was instrumental in the global eradication of smallpox, it's important to acknowledge that the disease had already begun to decline naturally in some regions before widespread vaccination programs were implemented. This decline was likely due to a combination of factors, including increased immunity within populations and changes in disease transmission patterns."

You're welcome.

OK thanks very much for clarifying @bruffin .

it was aimed @Jumpingthruhoops who was insinuating that smallpox was on the decline without vaccines.

I don't know what point you are intending to make. Smallpox has been around for millennia so it has never been possible to contain it successfully let alone eliminate it in the past. It has now been eliminated....so what changed? Vaccination.

Oh absolutely. I’m very much pro vax.

The more anti vaxxers spread their message the greater risk they are putting their own children in.

I know some on here will think this is harsh but I don't care, I am really angry at the reemergence of deadly illnesses. I believe that parents who don't vaccinate their children (at least for childhood diseases) should have the children removed from their custody, and their parental rights terminated. They can be restored and the children be returned to them if they agree to vaccinate. To not vaccinate children (obviously barring a child having a serious illness which means they can't have the vaccinations) is child abuse and negligence imo, and you forfeit your right to custody and being a parent if you don't get them vaccinated. Be anti-vaccination for yourself, but don't withhold it from your own innocent children.

Small pox was eliminated because of the nature of the disease and very strategic quarantine and vaccination.

Smallpox is only be transmitted because when the spots are visible and has to be face to face contact
So once they found a person with smallpox they set up a quarantine area, then vaccinated everyone within a certain radius.

I think I have heard it all now.

Really?

There was an outbreak in Wales in 1962 with a few cases in London and Birmingham.

@Jumpingthruhoops

"Pretty sure small pox was already on its way out, as the jab was being developed."

Please be sensible - no it wasn't.

What evidence are you even basing your views on?

What a coincidence! It was hanging around since ancient Egyptian times and then disappeared completely after a mass vaccination program.

It certainly wasn’t on its way out when the vaccine was developed in 1796. It didn’t start heading out until large quantities of people got vaccinated.

Pretty sure small pox was already on its way out, as the jab was being developed.

100% this! The heavy handed approach to the Covid jab was always going to make some people sceptical of more traditional vaccines. It's human nature I'm afraid.

I see your point, now you've explained it. It's always going to vacillate then; but since some people are never going to be able to vaccinate due to risk factors, I think that the onus is on the rest of us who have no known factors to get vaccinated.

The growth of the anti-vax movement means that tipping over the edge into outbreaks happening is more likely though, which means that anyone sensible living in society who doesn't have a known good cause not to vaccinate, should. The ones who don't are either supremely selfish or very stupid, and short sighted in both cases.

Does this apply to other things? Like wearing seatbelts? What other solid public health advice is it best to do the complete opposite of in the face of data?
🤦🏻‍♀️

more the opposite. If everyone else is vaccinating then there’s no risk of catching the disease so quantitatively the risk of the vaccine is larger than the risk of an illness you will never get.

If people aren’t vaccinating then then the opposite is true. Once the vaccination date is low enough that outbreaks occur then vaccinating is almost always safer except in rare circumstances.

Dr Sears actually wrote in his badly researched scaremongering vaccine book.

"I also warn them not to share their fears with their neighbors, because if too many people avoid the MMR, we'll likely see the diseases increase significantly
"

So if everyone else is avoiding jumping off a cliff, the safest thing would be to jump off the cliff? Or am I misunderstanding you?

The safest thing to do is the thing that everyone else isn’t.

The level of ignorance and selfishness is outstanding. Vaccination and clean water are the two biggest reasons for significant increases in life expectancy in the UK. Personally I would remove government funded childcare and school
places from unvaccinated children. Vaccines are safe and effective and protect vulnerable people.

The more that people choose not to vaccinate, the riskier their decision not to vaccinate becomes (to themselves and others).

This is an interesting idea
Personally, I don’t think people who fear side effects from the jab would sacrifice the potential of that for a school place or £17.50 a week.