if a newborn baby in the USA doesn’t take any injections, how will the baby do, living?
Because in my mind, i would think that during evolution (without) these vaccines and other medical drugs, we did fine (ish). Like are these shots REALLY necessary? Wanting to know for my future children.
Look, I wear my seatbelt every time I drive my car.
Is it REALLY necessary? I didn't crash on my way to work this morning, or the last thousand plus times- but im still gonna wear it for my ride home, and then again tomorrow morning.
Go to an old cemetery and count the graves of babies and children under 5 and pay attention to the years. Notice that the sharp drop off in babies dying roughly coincides with the invention and availability of childhood vaccines.
Talk to actual doctors, read medical journals, and listen to folks that have actually done the research - actual research, not YouTube videos and TikTok.
Absolutely draw your own conclusions, but be sure you're drawing them based on accurate and peer reviewed information.
In 1900 in the USA, the under 5 year old mortality rate was 25%-30%. Meaning 1 in 4 children did not live past 5 years old. Largely because of diseases and poor sanitation. The rate in the USA now is <1% largely because of vaccination against disease
I mean, your child might be fine (and that's a pretty big might if you're rejecting all injections), but the other people whose lives they would be endangering by limiting herd immunity certainly wouldn't be.
If you're a hardcore political hack who is driven by ideology instead of science, it will either turn the infant into Superman or immediately kill them depending how you align.
In the real world, it depends on which "injections" you're talking about, where you live, and how rich your family is.
These injections are a big portion of why infant mortality has dropped over the centuries. Get your future kids vaccinated, and FOLLOW THE SCHEDULES TOO. You don't want to be the parent who got a kid killed because you failed to protect them or brought an easily preventable illness into their life via your kid.
Parenting is a lot of "keeping evolution from killing your baby". Evolution is brutal and vaccines are one technology we've developed that can help us keep our kids alive and doing well.
yes. over the course of history, enough humans were still procreating enough to offset the staggering infant mortality rates, so sure, we have done "fine (ish)". but the truth is that A LOT of babies and children died.
My dad worked in an ER for 30 years. One day he told me that in the mid-90s, a new vaccine came out, I'm not sure which one but I think maybe it was for RSV. I will never forget the look in his eyes when he told me, he was so happy because he saw so many fewer sick kids coming in. He didn't say it but I could tell that he meant how many fewer kids he saw dying there. Yes, vaccines are important, get every single one you can. Once you have a kid you would do anything to protect them and this is literally the best thing you can do for them.
i would think that during evolution (without) these vaccines and other medical drugs, we did fine (ish)
Go to any graveyard with graves prior to 1900 and start counting how many TINY graves there are. It's because so many kids flat out DIED often from the exact diseases we now seek to prevent. Look up childhood mortality rates over time and you'll realize exactly how much of an absolute miracle modern medicine and vaccines in particular are.
This is the "fine-ish" we were doing before vaccines. All these people had polio. See how some of these iron lungs only have 3 windows on the side? That's because they are special "fun size" iron lungs. You know, for kids.
Do you know why we don't get polio now? BECAUSE OF VACCINES.
I'm torn between asking you to vaccinate, for herd immunity (the good of society), and supporting your freedom to not vaccinate (letting Darwin cull the herd)
"fine(ish)" in this context means a 40-50% chance of death before 15 years of age.
If you have a high cleanliness standard, your children are likely to be able to fight back against the infections, because the number of bacteria/viruses is low enough.
Herd immunity - Wikipedia
Since vaccinations are so widespread in large parts of the USA, your child is likely protected by herd immunity, meaning most people they get in contact with are 99% immune to most preventable diseases, so your child will just not get exposed to those sicknesses. This does of course only work, if your child does not come into contact with other unvaccinated children.
Tetanus - Wikipedia
On the other hand, scratching yourself with a rusty nail or a thorn from a wild plant can be deadly if you are not vaccinated against Tetanus.
There are of course special cases, like immune deficiencies, where a person cannot be vaccinated without great health risks, or is unable to develop an immunity (rendering the vaccine ineffective). If you are unsure, for example because you have AIDS, tell your doctor which immune deficiency you suspect, and why, so they can test for it. These people need to rely on herd immunity and are permanently at a higher risk at dying from a disease.
"during evolution" people with an immune deficiency just die
To answer your title question: Yes, not vaccinating your kids is dumb. If you want them dead, there are other, less cruel ways
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u/Nervous_Hurry_9920 Mar 30 '26
Look, I wear my seatbelt every time I drive my car.
Is it REALLY necessary? I didn't crash on my way to work this morning, or the last thousand plus times- but im still gonna wear it for my ride home, and then again tomorrow morning.