How to win the vaccine argument every single time

By W.C Douglass, MD

Hang in there, Sandra.

Sandra is a concerned grandma who's probably a lot like you: She doesn't want the little ones in her family pumped full of vaccines... but she's been getting guff from know-it-all "friends" who think children are human pincushions.

She's looking for a little more information to share with them.

I'll do you one better, Sandra: I'll tell you how to fight and win an argument with the pro-vaccine crowd every single time... or at least reduce your nemesis to a stammering pool of frustrated jelly.

All you need to do is ask three simple questions:

1) Are vaccines safe?

Your "friends" will insist they are... and maybe even repeat the claim that the autism link has been discredited.

It hasn't. But you know what? You can disarm them by conceding that point... because you don't need it to win.

Instead, point to Gardasil, the dangerous HPV vaccine linked to dozens of deaths and thousands of adverse events. Point to the swine flu shots that caused people to pass out, get sick and drop dead.

And then go for the jugular with a recent headline, because you'll always find something like this: Japan reports sixth infant death after vaccination?.

That's from just a couple of weeks ago, before the disaster there. Does that sound safe to you?

2) Do vaccines save lives?

The needle-pushers will look at you like you're crazy and say, "Of course they do."

Just ask for proof -- because there isn't any.

But you can prove they DON'T save lives, because the research on flu shots is crystal clear: In years when there are shortages, or when the vaccines don't match the dominant strain, there's no surge in flu deaths as would be the case if the vaccine was "saving" everyone the rest of the time.

In fact, there's almost no change in the death rate at all. (Click here for more ammo -- a recent study you can cite.)

3) Are vaccines even necessary?

Your nemeses will no doubt start repeating some sob story they found on the Internet about someone who died of an obscure disease... but forget the anecdotal tales and just look at the numbers: All the major diseases supposedly eradicated by vaccines were on the decline BEFORE those injections came on the scene.

And when these diseases hit today, they're often nothing to worry about: The last big measles outbreak, for example, had a death rate of about a quarter of a percent.

Your debate partners may start frothing at the mouth at this point. Don't get too close. Ignorance is contagious -- and there's no vaccine for that.

I'm not done with vaccines... keep reading for the latest on HPV.