"468 deaths total. Not that notable. Does not justify hysteria to vaccinate."

That's the empathy for human suffering in the anti-vaccine movement. 

A person (I have concealed the person's name and twitter handle) started off by tweeting:

#vaccinesNOVA #CDCwhistleblower #cdcfraud @PBS 1950 Total US Deaths from measles 468. 2014 1 in 68 children are autistic.

Followed closely by

#vaccinesNOVA #CDCwhistleblower #cdcfraud @PBS Scaring us with a childhood illness that killed a total of 468 people in the US in 1950

So let us review. 

Does measles (the wild type, which sickened up to 750,000 people a year, and killed up nearly 700 people a year, to prior to the advent of the vaccine) have anything to do with autism? No, almost certainly no.  Certainly these sorts of illness and death statistics were a solid impetus to develop a vaccine. 

Does being immunized with the measles vaccine (attenuated versions  of several strains of the wild type measles)  have anything to do with a person subsequently developing autism? Over 20 studies have found no connection. 

It is never acceptable to use fearmongering about the chance of becoming autistic to scare people away from vaccinating. It dehumanizes real autistic people.  Autistic people are part of our community. Autistic people are not “them.” Autistic people are a part of “us.”

The twitter user continued: 

#vaccinesNOVA #CDCwhistleblower #cdcfraud @PBS Horror if you child should be ill a few days with measles. Lifetime with autism much better.

I pointed out the consequences of not vaccinating. The twitter user didn't care.

Liz Ditz Stop vaccinating against #measles @redacted go back to 683 deaths a year #CDCwhistleblower #vaccinesNOVA http://1.usa.gov/1ADvOtY

@lizditz 1950 468 deaths total. Not that notable. Does not justify hysteria to vaccinate.

The twitter user had other, similar exchanges with vaccine proponents

So there you have the real face of the anti-vaccine movement. Death is better than autism. Other people's human suffering doesn't matter.

• Link to the Nova program: Calling the Shots
• Link to #Novavaccines tweet stream #NovaVaccines 
• Link to #VaccinesNova tweet stream #VaccinesNova 
• An explanation of the #cdcwhistleblower manufactroversy MMR, the CDC and Brian Hooker: A Guide for Parents and the Media