Vaccines?

Jenny McCarthy was just on Chelsea Lately plugging her book 'Generation Rescue' and pushing her whole 'cleaning up vaccines, less vaccines' thing she's doing to fight autism. (Her son has it.) I honestly don't know enough about autism to make a serious comment, but I have been vaguely aware of the controversy over vaccines that's been growing in recent years (people not wanting to vaccine their kids, people shooting them up with every new fangled vaccine that comes out on the market.)

The Missus and I have had some vague conversations about this, in passing- and I think we've both come down on the notion that we don't want our kids to get anything more than what we got. They're vaccinating for chicken pox now, which strikes me as overkill? What happened to the fun neighborhood parties, where every mother from miles around would send their kids too as soon as word got around that Little Johnny had to the chicken pox. I had it- and I'm fine. I don't see why my kid should get vaccinated for it.

BUT: I think some vaccines are necessary- I don't get parents that refuse to vaccinate their kids at all. I think that's just asking for it, really.

And as for the vaccine-autism connection... again, I just don't know enough to be sure. Autism is so damn complex, from what I know, that Doctors have trouble actually making the correct diagnosis- could their be a link? Maybe. But I think more research- a lot more is warranted to help the medical community actually get a solid handle on autism- because if they have trouble diagnosing it, then they obviously don't have a handle on it yet.

(As an aside, yes I do watch Chelsea Lately. Yes, I'm a guy and yes Chelsea Handler is hot, funny and just plain rocks my face off! Honestly, the best late night program out there- with Conan and Craig Ferguson coming in second and third in my book. If NBC is smart, they'd make her an offer for Conan's slot when he moves up- though she may chafe a little at the stuffy restrictions network television has that cable tends to ignore a but.)