When you are old, your immune system fails, because you are OLD not because of vaccines that you may have gotten. Your whole body fails because you are OLD and then you die. Shingles has nothing to do with vaccines. And now I’m trying to figure out why you’re talking about scarlet fever, which also has nothing to do with vaccines. Furthermore, scarlet fever is BACTERIAL whereas vaccines are for VIRAL infections. For bacterial infections, we have antibiotics, for viral infections we have vaccines. And no, there is no “curve” of diseases being on the out before vaccines were invented. Some things improved with the advent of indoor plumbing, but it was related to the vaccines, not the plumbing. You are very confused.

You are the one who suggested that people get shingles because of vaccines, not me. Scarlet fever has not disappeared, it is treated now with antibiotics. Another wonderful invention of modern science and medicine.

You never made that claim? “The fact is that a damaged immune system is what results in shingles. And that’s what you get with all these vaccinations.” Your words, not mine.

@ whiteoleander: this isn’t a peer-reviewed article, and there are ads all over it (again diminishing its worthiness). Hopefully people realize what they are reading before they commit the information to fact. If I used this article in a paper, it would get chewed up and spit on by any professor. Point is, we should not just believe everything we read on the internet because someone put up some fancy graphs and bogus data. Anyone can go out and make an argument for whatever fear-instilling claim they wish to make. And for that, none of us should take each other’s word on it. I’ve already done my homework. And I feel confident in the advice I heed to my patients.

(Referring back to whiteoleander’s comment that begins “I’m not the one trying to change the subject. You stated that disease was wiped out by better sewage treatment and nutrition. I pointed out that in 3rd world countries, vaccines work regardless of their poor nutrition and sanitation. “)

Don’t be ridiculous. You made the claims & I countered them. That isn’t bringing a new topic into it.

You have just gone on a rant that demonstrates precisely nothing, and is all over the place with things that are totally irrelevant. Thank you for demonstrating how illegitimate your comments are. And that is now the end of it.

You don’t know that to be true. The study – which I’ve read and obviously you have not, though you’re the one making the accusation of not reading scientific matter – refers to ages 18-65. It says nothing about other ages. Your claim that the vaccine helps the elderly is based on nothing but your desire that it be true.

And I love how the link you posted says “There are several others, of course, but they are either too recent to take into account or not truly associated with childhood illnesses, such as smallpox and polio, which are more appropriately considered epidemic diseases.” Oh sure, let’s just forget about polio and smallpox since they were conveniently wiped out by vaccines. Let’s just leave those two big boys out since we can’t include those as proof that vaccines work. Smallpox was so deadly before vaccines were invented that it could almost wipe out the world if ever made a resurgence without a vaccine handy. How convenient to leave those out.

Actually tetanus, is a toxin, produced by a bacterium. As well is typhoid. The vaccine is not against a bacterium.

“If you look at the stats on polio, you’ll find the same sort of curve trajectory as any other infectious disease. It had largely disappeared with the advent of good water, food, and sewage.” This is a lie. There were HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of cases a year, all over the world, before the polio vaccine was invented. After this, in the 50s, the number of cases per year dropped to UNDER A THOUSAND. That is such a huge drop, and way way way after indoor plumbing and proper food handling was invented. And in countries where they have no plumbing and still don’t, 3rd world countries where they don’t have a pot to pee in and still poop in holes in the ground, or their own drinking water supply. Even in those countries, polio was almost eradicated. And even to this day, in places where children are being crippled by polio, the medical team goes there and begins mass polio immunizations, and they stop the disease in its tracks without ever changing anything about their food, sewage, lifestyle, etc. These are very poor, 3rd world countries, not some posh house with indoor plumbing and fresh fruit and veggies in the fridge. Clearly, your thinking is very faulty.

The point is that you do not have any science on your side at all. None of the minions who believe that vaccines are bad have science or modern medicine on their side. And yet, you all line up for your antibiotics when you’re sick, or your child is injured, or your parents need medication to keep them alive, or your sister needs cancer treatment, or your cousin needs insulin. You don’t scoff at modern medicine then, even though it all comes from the same big pharma. Please read Dr. Offit’s “Deadly Choices”, and then get back to me. Your are seriously misguided by the anti-vaccine propaganda. At least if there are more people like you, Darwin’s theory will take over and weed you out.

I’m not the one trying to change the subject. You stated that disease was wiped out by better sewage treatment and nutrition. I pointed out that in 3rd world countries, vaccines work regardless of their poor nutrition and sanitation. No reply from you on that. You stated that the flu vaccine has no benefit to the elderly. Well, your own article states that is untrue. No response from you. You stated that shingles are caused by being vaccinated. Well, you did try to back track on that one. You conveniently left out polio and smallpox on that link. No reply about that one either? You brought up scurvy and scarlet fever? You stated “If you look at the stats on polio, you’ll find the same sort of curve trajectory as any other infectious disease. It had largely disappeared with the advent of good water, food, and sewage.”, and yet you cannot seem to include smallpox in there or explain why the polio vaccine works in 3rd world conditions where it is dirty? You’re saying that if everyone washed their hands and ate their fruit and used indoor plumbing that smallpox would have gone away without vaccines? Well, we shouldn’t worry at all then that the armies all over the world would love to get their hands on the stuff to use it as biological warfare, since we will all be fine as long we eat healthy and use the toilet. What a relief that they can just throw out the smallpox vaccine. Would you go into a village, or take your children, where polio has not been conquered and is running rampant without having been vaccinated against it?

^^ Thank you Jonas Salk. For those that doubt the polio epidemic and the effects a vaccine had watch “A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America”, for those of you that do not have a molecular biology and physiology education. The chicken pox disease causes shingles, as they are the same virus. It is a herpes virus, and we should all know by now that those are incurable and are living within our nervous system for LIFE. Get cold soars? You’ll get them forever when your system is weakened. Had chicken pox? You may very well get shingles later in life. Hence the “break out” on our posterior surface, where the virus lives in the nerve ganglions.