Anti-vaxxer group 'Crazymothers' wants everyone to stop calling them anti-vaxxers

Imagine calling a spade a spade and then having the spade be like: "I take personal offence at being called a spade!"

Yeah, that, but with anti-vaxxers.

Apparently calling them anti-vaxxers, because, you know, they're against (anti) vaccinations (vaxxing) is now "derogatory", "inflammatory" and, errr "dismissivemy" (yes, "dismissivemy") simplistic.

At least according to a group delightfully names "Crazymothers", which posted a tweet to this effect earlier this week.

It's a semi-tricky one, because if someone called us anti-vaxxers, we would be offended. Then again, the answer seems pretty straightforward: don't be one.

They prefer the term "vaccine risk aware". Unfortunately, this isn't really going to work as everyone is vaccine risk aware, it's just most of us are aware the risk is, well, pretty much nonexistent.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

Vaccines are actually very safe, despite implications to the contrary in many anti-vaccine publications.

Most vaccine adverse events are minor and temporary, such as a sore arm or mild fever. These can often be controlled by taking paracetamol after vaccination.

More serious adverse events occur rarely (on the order of one per thousands to one per millions of doses), and some are so rare that risk cannot be accurately assessed.

As for vaccines causing death, again so few deaths can plausibly be attributed to vaccines that it is hard to assess the risk statistically.

The risk of not vaccinating, however, is something to be aware of.

According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC):

Without vaccines, your child is at risk for getting seriously ill and suffering pain, disability, and even death from diseases like measles and whooping cough.

Last year there were more than 1,000 cases of measles in the US, the highest number since 1992. Measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

A recent measles outbreak in Samoa led to more than 4,000 infections and 62 deaths, and the UN specifically blamed anti-vaxxers.

Globally, the number of measles cases grew by four times more in the first quarter of 2019 than in the same period last year, according to the WHO.

Given that every single reputable medical agency states that the huge, lifesaving benefits of vaccinations outweigh the very very minimal risks, it seems that being an anti-vaxxer is in no way the same as being vaccine risk aware.

Sorry, Crazymothers, but we're going to go with science, rather than your feelings, on this one.

MORE: Anti-vaxxer gets shut down with just one brutally accurate comment

MORE: This doctor invented a conspiracy theory to convince an anti-vaxxer mum to vaccinate her child