Then there are those who understand science so badly that it does worry me:

Is H1N1 just the seasonal flu for 2009/2010 with a new name? Is it a pandemic? What is a pandemic anyway? I think of Anthrax or Ebola and people dying in droves. Feel free to correct me.

She then goes on to quote an article about the vaccine being developed. The article closes with this:

China has seen 1,668 cases of the virus, according to health ministry statistics, but no deaths have since been reported.

I should point out that China is not always the most reliable when it comes to news stories. Of course, Age of Autism isn’t the most reliable either (spend some time searching his site for more examples). Examples of unreliability do not mean that someone is always wrong, but personally, I take everything they say with a grain of salt until I find proof of them being right or wrong.

Back to the author’s original questions. Why did I feel the need to post them? Why do I worry? Because the same author posted their comment of the week (two hours later):

6,772,357,798 people on Earth, 429 deaths, from 94,512 cases, worldwide. How is this a pandemic?

So, Ms. Stagliano doesn’t know what a pandemic is but decides to give an award to someone who questions the H1N1 pandemic without even looking up the definition? A 20 second search on Google for the definition of pandemic gave me this from Merriam-Webster:

pandemic (adjective) occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population

pandemic (noun) a pandemic outbreak of a disease

I don’t see the word death in those definitions. The same goes with the WHO’s site, no mention of death that I saw. For a nice breakdown of pandemics, I suggest the blog Aetiology by Tara C. Smith:

Does 7 deaths REALLY constitute a pandemic? Are we that wussy and panic-prone as a society that the WHO freaks out over a couple deaths from the freakin’ flu?

And this is what I was getting at with my comment on pandemic phases. The number of deaths don’t matter–it’s the transmission in the human population that’s key.

Ok, they got a definition wrong, no big deal, right? Actually, it is a big deal when you’re implying that it’s not really a pandemicl so don’t worry. It is a big deal when you imply that someone doesn’t need to get a vaccine because the fatality rate of the disease is so low, they’d likely be fine even if they got it.

I got into a discussion the other day with some coworkers about the flu vaccine (the regular one). They were saying they never get the flu so they were going to pass on it. I told them I was going to get it because it would not only help protect me but also those around me. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d hate to get any vaccine preventable disease and then know I may pass it on to someone who couldn’t get the vaccine for some reason (they may have health reasons, are too young, or have parents who don’t understand science) are now permanently harmed (or worse) by that disease. It’s called Herd Immunity, pass it on.

A number of prominent neurologists now believe it helps to look at the brain, especially to rule out seizure disorder, which can often produce autistic symptoms, and which is treatable. (That’s what McCarthy found, among other things, by the way, when she decided to trust her instincts instead of conventional wisdom.)

I noticed that they didn’t say autism, but autistic symptoms. This is rather telling to me when I had previously read this at Left Brain/Right Brain. To summarize what he says is that, according to some articles he’s read, it’s possible that Jenny McCarthy’s son never had autism. Keep in mind that this is not a diagnosis, but a hypothesis based on available information.  Still, it’s rather telling.

You see, Jenny McCarthy is getting an additional venue to spread her antivaccine nonsense. This is a woman who, without real proof, has gone on a crusade against vaccines. This angers me, because it can affect my daughter. That is what scares me. People like her make me sick because they can make my daughter sick, or worse.

My wife and I had a discussion about this. We did not talk about whether or not to immunize out daughter. We’d already looked into it and believe there is no proof of vaccines causing autism. I’ve spent many hours reading both sides (warning, junk science site) as well as reading some books and magazines. We already know that the benefits far outweigh the risks to our little girl. We agreed to stick to the schedule, barring unforeseen research in this area. What we talked about was what to tell my mother-in-law.

I’m going to insert a warning here. I’m not likely to add many links to the rest of this post. This is for two reasons: 1) it’s late and I’m getting tired & 2) I believe most of the links I’ve already posted covers what I’m about to say. Besides, the rest of this is an anecdote and I’m posting it more to show how we handled this, rather than why.

You see, she was initially wary of us following the vaccine schedule as recommended by the doctor. Her other daughter’s kids didn’t follow the standard schedule, at least according to my mother-in-law. She was following the “too much, too soon” mentality. My wife thought we should just tell her we were spacing them out where I disagreed. This isn’t because I dislike her¹ and disagreed on that basis alone. I thought about it for a little while and this is what I told my wife (paraphrased):

If we lie to my mother-in-law and tell her that we spread out my daughter’s vaccinations, we’d just be adding ammunition to the anti vaccinationists arsenal. If she talks to other people about whether or not to spread out the shots, she may tell people that her granddaughter had her shots spread out. Honestly, I don’t want my daughter helping kill other children.

So, we decided to tell her the truth. She wasn’t thrilled. She saw my daughter and I the day after her first set of vaccinations (after the Hib shot in the hospital). My daughter was running a slight fever and was being a little more fussy than normal². My mother-in-law was not happy. She then told me that she read that if your child is highly fatigued after getting her shots, then you should tell the doctor to spread out the rest of them. Her next words were what floored me. You see, she didn’t read this recently but had read it in a magazine 25-30 years ago. I held my tongue that day but I was about ready to laugh. When I was working on my BS, I rarely cited anything older than 5 years and here she was quoting me something more than 25 years old.

To make a long story short (because I’m getting tired), when my daughter’s second round of vaccinations came up, we did not hesitate. My mother-in-law still gives me some slightly dirty looks but I think that’s because she thinks that as the grandmother, she knows best because she’d done it before. Unfortunately for her, that’s not how I was raised¹.

1 – I actually have a pretty good mother-in-law. She does have a downside, though. She is used to certain things, like being relied upon. When my wife and I moved into town, she helped us a lot and despite her complaints, I think it made her feel needed. Unfortunately, when push comes to shove, I was raised to be self-reliant. As a result, I do things my way and as independently as I can. So, I sometimes find her overbearing. I know she means well but it can get on my nerves.
2 – Her reaction was about what I expected. I would have been surprised if she had no reaction at all. Her behavior for the days after the shots can be difficult but I also know that in the long run, she’ll be much happier, healthier, and alive.