Hey guys,
Recently, I had an interesting online conversation with some people about vaccines, specifically about the Meningitis B vaccine called Bexsero.
source
It all started when I watched a video on a social media platform where a mother was asking for opinions on vaccinating her daughter with Bexsero. She mentioned that her other two children had been vaccinated, but what made her question her decision this time was that Bexsero is now free, while in the past, the cost was 100 Euros per dose. The number of doses was 2 or 3, depending on when the child received the first dose.
Of course, many people who were skeptical about the vaccine in the past argued that if it were a good and necessary vaccine, it would be covered by the state and made mandatory. But now, after the fourfold increase in Meningitis B cases in children over the past year, the state began covering the cost so that more children could receive the vaccine, as the death rate from the disease is extremely high.
I decided to comment on another post in the video where a mother claimed that a "friend of a friend" heard from someone else that an acquaintance vaccinated his child, and that child developed autism as a side effect of the vaccine. I found it extremely offensive for someone to be that ignorant, so I commented that autism has nothing to do with vaccines, as it is a neurodevelopmental condition. I also mentioned that the vaccine could cause some unwanted side effects, such as a higher fever.
After some time, the person replied, claiming I was wrong because the child was vaccinated around the same time that the autism symptoms started. Of course, autism typically begins to manifest around age 1, which is when most children in Greece receive the Bexsero vaccine.
As you can imagine, he didn’t like my response. He told me that if I visited the vaccine's website, I would read that the vaccine is prohibited for children under 10. This is incorrect, as the website actually states that the vaccine is recommended for ages 10 to 25 in the U.S. because the research there focused on that age group. However, in Europe, the research included children as young as 2 months, and the European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine for ages 2 months to 25 years.
He then accused me of being ignorant. Even after I provided links and research to support my argument, he said I was "speaking like a robot" and needed to "read again." I did reread the information and gave the same answer, at which point he told me to go to hell.
Someone else then responded to my comments, calling me an idiot and claiming that many children were dying from the vaccine. They argued that the triple meningitis vaccine (which protects against strains A, C, W, and Y) was enough and that there was no need for the Meningitis B vaccine, which is a different strain. I explained this and asked if a doctor had told him that, suggesting that if so, he should change doctors immediately because spreading misinformation that could lead to a child’s death is criminal.
He then said he only goes to doctors who are against vaccines and who would tell him that neither he nor his children need any vaccines.
Why am I sharing all of this? Because there are many parents who, due to their own biases and choices, refuse to even consider different information or scientifically proven facts. They would rather put their children at risk, and even worse, they put other children at risk too. So, if you have kids, I encourage you to do your own research, vet your doctors, and ensure that they base their decisions on research and act in the best interest of their patients, not on their own biases.
Link
https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/bexsero
https://www.meningitisb.com/what-is-meningitis/
https://www.meningitis.org/meningitis/vaccine-information/meningococcal-group-b-vaccine
