As previously discussed here, there is a large, or at least very vocal group of people who believe that vaccines cause autism, including celebrity spokes-couple (and parents of an autistic child) Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey. Now there's nothing wrong with trying to improve vaccines, and there may be benefits to altering vaccination schedules, but any responsible advocacy for changes really must include urging parents to have their children vaccinated, change or no change. The health benefits to the population of vaccination are large and well known, and so far there is scant evidence for a vaccine causation theory.
So it's nice to see that the "get your damn child vaccinated" camp has it's own celebrity spokes person: Amanda Peet. After hearing from "friends" that she shouldn't have her child vaccinated, she did the right thing: looked at the science (thanks to her MD Sister!). Now she's trying to raise awareness, but more importantly, she "says parents shouldn't look to her as a scientific expert. She defers scientific questions to [Paul] Offit [chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia]."
Good for you Peet.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment