Vaccine Myths

I am going to try and convince the skeptics and the conspiracy theorists about the importance of vaccine. No they are not tools for controlling people minds. Vaccination is one of the most important discoveries made by man. It gives every person the ability to ward of diseases, from the simple flu to the dealy small pox, Polio and maybe sometime in the future HIV.
Vaccination was used in India and China for about 2000 years to prevent small pox. But it was Edward Jenner who first observed the immunity against smallpox in people working with cows. He used scabs from cowpox and inoculated humans. To his surprise he found that those inoculated with cowpox were resistant to small pox. Vacc = cow
Thats the history on vaccines. These days vaccines are touted as the best way to decrease incidence of most diseases. Prevention is better than a cure. Smallpox, MMR, Polio, HPV are but a few examples of diseases that have effective vaccines developed.
Vaccines can cause a some slight sickness after being administered. But the immunity that develops far outweighs this short term "risk". When a vaccine is administered, your body mounts an offensive against it by producing antibodies. When the real infectious agent enter the body they are destroyed by the already present antibodies. Therefore, vaccines prevent diseases.
Now the myths. The most insane of all the myths is that the government uses vaccines to control your minds. This is impossible, those who think this, need to understand we barely know anything about the human body. Mind control is not possible via vaccines.
Kids can become autistic because of vaccines. Its only a coincidence that autism is diagnosed around the time kids are vaccinated for the plethora or diseases that their immune system is not equipped to handle. Mercury in vaccines was wrongly believed to cause autism in children. Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, was removed from vaccines in 1999, but the autism myth never went away.
Vaccine can make me/my kid sick. As is said earlier this is just a short term "risk". "Risk" because vaccines can cause a short lived low rise in temperature.
To reiterate, vaccines are one of the most important discoveries made by man. It decreases infant mortality, prevents debilitating diseases, and gives you super human strength. Just kidding about the last one.