10 February 2015

Review of an anti-vaccination book for children

Salon explains:
In 2012, a proactive Australian anti-vaxxer named Stephanie Messenger self-published a children’s book called “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles.” With the book, Messenger endeavored to “educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully.”
Amazon offers a disclaimer that the book is “provided by the publisher/author of this title and presents the subjective opinions of the publisher/author, which may not be substantiated.”

Comments on the book are more incisive.  This one by is my favorite:
“Don’t overlook the lesser known Dr. Seuss books in this series – ‘Horton hears an air raid siren’, ‘Oh the places you’ll itch’, ‘How the Grinch caught Chlamydia’, ‘And to Think That I Contracted It on Mulberry Street’, ‘Skull Fracture Mayzie’, ‘Hop on your remaining foot’, ‘The 500 days in ICU of Bartholomew Cubbins’, and ‘If I Ran the Mortuary.’” 

4 comments:

  1. This is appalling.

    My older son had measles, at a time when he should have had the vaccine but it had been delayed for medical reasons. He was actually in hospital for febrile convulsions when he came into contact with measles.

    We were lucky, although we didn't realise it at the time. He was horribly, miserably ill but he didn't die and he didn't suffer lasting damage.

    How anyone can want the allegedly "natural" approach for their children is beyond me. I don't care how unnatural it is to vaccinate children if it stops them from becoming deaf, blind or even dead.

    /soapbox

    Sorry. I obviously found this more triggering than I expected!

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  2. I don't believe in book-burning or -banning, but I hate the idea of trying to make a child think that getting the measles (or mumps or smallpox, etc.) is a wonderful thing...

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  3. Other books by Messenger:
    "Our Flat Earth"
    "One Small Step for Television: How NASA Really Landed a Man on the Moon"
    "Better Living Through Looking at the Positions of Celestial Bodies"
    "Cure What Ails You with Water Once Touched with Something that Produces Similar Symptoms"
    ... and a host of books about alkalinity, energy healing, and ghosts.

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  4. This whole thing astounds me. Why people aren't thankful that their children don't have to have these diseases, will never suffer any of the terrible side effects, I cannot understand. How can so many people, most of them well-educated, believe a thoroughly discredited study?

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