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Comment by codeptualize | Hacker News Reader

I recently got the HPV vaccine (along with some other vaccines I didn't get as a child of anti vax parents).

Vaccines are one of the most amazing inventions. The fact that they can eradicate entire categories of diseases and save so many people from suffering and death with such a simple intervention, is truly remarkable.

It makes me very sad that as a society we are failing to simply take what's there. Maybe the biggest flaw of vaccines is that they are so effective that people don't remember how bad these diseases really were, and only know the minor side effects.

Feeling bad for a couple of days instead of getting certain cancers, measles, hepatitis, and many other serious diseases is a great fucking deal. Also had almost no side effects from the hpv vaccine, 10/10 do recommend.

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The world put Pasteur on a pedestal for creating the rabies vaccine. He was a household name because rabies was a terrifying death sentence at the time. We're incredibly luck that today getting bit by a rabid animal is typically just an inconvenience. Vaccines are miracles.

He also invented the pasteurization process, which has saved countless lives. Now we have a whole anti-pasteurization movement, because why not. Wild that education has failed so hard that we have large numbers turning their backs on these blessings we're fortunate enough to take for granted.

> getting bit by a rabid animal is typically just an inconvenience

Actually, in the USA it's a financial catastrophe if you're uninsured and of average means. You're looking at a $7,000 expense. Or you could spend like $1,000 on a ticket to Thailand or something and get it there for $70.

Rabies vaccine is about 10 USD in Thailand.

Source: https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/cost.html

I have first hand experience at this clinic. It is part of an excellent medical school in Bangkok.

Oh dear, your connecting flight has been cancelled, so now you die.

> Vaccines are one of the most amazing inventions

Sure, and so are NSAIDs, but I'm still not taking Rofecoxib (Vioxx).

> but I'm still not taking Rofecoxib

It's not that hard to avoid a drug withdrawn from the market 20 years ago though ..

Sure, also amazing, pain management is really important. In tier list of amazing things I would put them below vaccines as preventing the disease is better than managing the symptoms, plus certain NSAIDs (usually when taken in higher doses or longer terms) can have real adverse effects.

Not sure what point you are trying to make with a banned medicine that causes heart problems. (Most) vaccines are proven to be incredibly safe, they are likely one of the most researched and rigorously tested medical interventions we have. If certain vaccines would have effects like Rofecoxib they would get banned as well (likely before reaching the public), that's how this works..

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