Re: Letters in response to NY Post scaremongering column

[Guest guest]

The following "letters to the editor" appeared in today's NY Post in response to a column titled: "Other Mom's Fear Threatens My Kids" by someone named Naomi Schaefer Riley. My own .. unpublished response .. follows the two letters that were published. One can only wonder how many people actually responded to challenge the scare-mongering tone of Ms. Riley's original column which can be accessed at:

http://tinyurl.com/cyubuhs

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Needle-less vaccination fears

Last Updated: 11:14 PM, July 26, 2012

Posted: 10:55 PM, July 26, 2012

Naomi Schaefer Riley writes she fears her kids are at risk because parents are not vaccinating their children (“Other Moms’ Fear Threatens My Kids,†PostOpinion, July 25).

While I think children should be vaccinated, shame on her for not seeing the other side. She lectures those “moms who dare to question vaccinations,†but fails to realize that children have been injured because of vaccines.

Maybe the numbers are not extreme, but tell that to the parents of a child who was injured.

Children need vaccinations, but they need to be done in a safer way.

Let’s stop putting the health of our children in the hands of pharmaceutical companies. I applaud those moms who are doing their research.

Rockville Centre

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Getting hysterical and advising doctors to bully parents is not going to lead to more kids getting vaccinated.

If Riley wants to vaccinate her child, what is the problem? If the vaccine doesn’t work, it is not my fault.

American parents are not stupid.

The reason so many parents are refusing vaccines is because they have seen children have adverse reactions and they are scared.

Our crowded infant-vaccination schedule, the most aggressive in the world, has never been tested for safety according to the way the vaccinations are administered, sometimes even six at a time.

We have one of the highest child-mortality rates in the Western world and among the sickest kids. Asthma, diabetes and autism are skyrocketing.

Where is the outrage over that?

Adverse vaccine reactions could be a lot more common than whooping cough.

Manhattan

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Sir

Naomi Schaefer Riley's column, "Other Moms' Fear Threatens MY Kids" (7/25/12) was chock full of misinformation meant to blame parents for causing the spike in whooping cough cases this year. It appears Ms. Riley's attempt to demonize parents is misplaced.

Consider .. Washington State Sec of Health Selecky has stated: "vaccine refusal doesn't appear to be playing a key role in the growing pertussis problem. A recent CDC MMWR report states: "76% of Washington State pertussis cases were in fully vaccinated individuals."

I would respectfully suggest that Ms. Riley join these high-level public health officials in realizing the spike in whooping cough cases is most likely due to vaccine failure, not the result of unvaccinated individuals spreading the disease.

BOB MOFFITT