The horrible consequences of seeking “natural” immunity: Naturopathy and Whooping Cough

[HuckleB]

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-horrible-consequences-of-seeking-natural-immunity-naturopathy-and-whooping-cough/

"If there’s one area of “alternative” medicine that saddens (and angers) me, it’s the antivaccine movement. Most alternative medicine only risks harm to the user. But antivaccinationists threaten public health. Their actions can harm the most vulnerable in our society – often children, and others who depend on the herd immunity that vaccination provides. After my last few naturopathy vs. science posts I thought I’d take a bit of a break with another subject. However, last week ex-naturopath (and friend of the blog) Britt Hermes flagged a post from a naturopath that stunned me. Here was antivaccinationism and naturopathy, all rolled into a blog post about three children with a parent that doesn’t vaccinate. Heather Dexter, who claims to be a “Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor” in Michigan, blogs at likemindedmamas.com. She recently used her blog to describe, in astonishing, horrific, gut-wrenching detail, how she let three of her children suffer with whooping cough without seeking proper medical attention. The post was pulled down after a few days, but has recently reappeared with some modifications. (The original post, which I am quoting from below, has been archived and can be found here or here). I strongly encourage you to read the entire post in its entirety. Because amazingly, not only did Heather Dexter let her three children suffer through weeks of pain with whooping cough, she also subjected them repeatedly to invasive (and useless) alternative medicine. Yet she claims to have no regrets.

Whooping cough is preventable. Antivaccinationists oppose this.

Vaccination has likely prevented more deaths in the past 50 years than any other health intervention. Infectious diseases that used to kill millions have been fully or almost completely eradicated – all through the effectiveness of vaccines. Smallpox was a ruthless killer that took 300 million lives, just in the 20th century alone. Today it’s gone – eliminated forever. And now there are now over two dozen diseases that are vaccine-preventable. They should be an easy sell, and to most people, they are. There is an effective vaccine is for pertussis – whooping cough. Pertussis is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, and infections can be serious – particularly in infants. It causes rapid, violent coughing and then a sudden inspiration of breath – the “whoop” sound. If you’ve never seen it before, go watch some videos of it so you know what it looks and sounds like. It’s upsetting to watch, and can terrify parents. Pertussis can kill infants. In older children, it can cause coughing spell so violent children can pass out – or fracture ribs. They often end up with bruised eyes and broken capillaries – like the picture above – simply due to the intensity of the coughs. Having watched the videos, I find it difficult to accept that a parent wouldn’t choose to prevent this disease in their child. Because you can, easily. The DTaP vaccine protects against pertussis. The introduction of a vaccine reduced the incidence of pertussis infections by 99%. It is highly effective (98% after the 5 doses) and the pertussis vaccine has no serious side effects. None. The statistics demonstrate the effectiveness of the pertussis vaccine – this disease has almost been eliminated, and so have the harms (like residual lung damage), the misery, and the deaths. Just this week there emerged new evidence that suggests a relationship between pertussis and epilepsy; children who have had hospital-diagnosed pertussis were almost twice as likely to subsequently be diagnosed with epilepsy. While this does not establish cause and effect, it suggests that there may be more damage caused by a pertussis infection that initially thought. All the more reason to be vaccinated, and further evidence against the idea that “natural” immunity is somehow superior to the immunity conferred by vaccines.

Naturopaths and advocates of “natural medicine” have long opposed vaccination, dismissing it as “unnatural” for as long as vaccines have been around. Benedict Lust, who introduced naturopathy in the United States, stated his opposition to the smallpox vaccine in 1918, in his Universal Directory of Naturopathy. Lust introduced the core tenets of the naturopathic belief system: natural is better; vaccines are unnatural (and therefore bad); we’re being poisoned from within (i.e., you need to detox); and naturopaths treat “root causes” while medical doctors don’t. None of these concepts have any basis in reality. The eradication of smallpox, due to the vaccine, had no effect on naturopath practices. That’s because naturopathy is a belief system, rather than a science-based practice. Naturopathy is based on the idea of vitalism, a pre-scientific belief that biological organisms are fundamentally different that non-biologic organisms. Today naturopaths call it the “vital force” but the meaning is the same. Naturopaths believe their treatments restore this “vital force”. The practice of naturopathy has evolved over time into a mix of disproven or unproven health practices that including homeopathy, acupuncture, “detoxification” and herbalism, along with the occasional science-based belief repackaged as “alternative”. To be clear, not all naturopaths are antivaccine today – but the evidence demonstrates that antivaccination sentiment persists. The longer naturopaths are in naturopathy school, the less supportive they become of vaccines. One survey of naturopathy students found only 12.8% were supportive of the full pediatric vaccination schedule. Care from a naturopath is associated with fewer vaccinations and a greater likelihood of vaccine preventable disease. And a survey of Massachusetts naturopaths and homeopaths noted that most did not recommend vaccination. Additionally, a survey of children’s records from an Ontario naturopathic clinic identified 8.9% of children had not been vaccinated. And a year ago, I blogged about the president of the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta, Allissa Gaul, who refused to endorse vaccination – even as that province was facing an outbreak of whooping cough and measles. While naturopaths claim to be primary care providers, their continued hostility to vaccination, and their persistent use of unproven and disproven therapies has raised questions about their ability to provide care based on an accepted medical standard.

..."

[mopinko]

1. that woman should be in JAIL.

what a horrifying story. my god.

[HuckleB]

2. Indeed.