I’ve written in this space about Rep. Tim Leonard (R-Evergreen) before. He is one of the most radical members of the Colorado State Legislature. Well, he’s at it again, this time posting this video with a cryptic warning to know the cost/benefit trade-off regarding vaccinating children.
In the video, the child experiences seizures, and Leonard implies this is a common and dangerous side effect of vaccination.
As you might have guessed, Leonard is wrong. Here is what the Centers for Disease Control says about these febrile seizures:
Febrile seizures can be frightening, but nearly all children who have a febrile seizure recover quickly, are healthy afterwards, and do not have any permanent neurological damage. Febrile seizures do not make children more likely to develop epilepsy or any other seizure disorder.
Is it too much to expect that the people we entrust to represent us in the legislature be able to do some simple research before they post nonsense that has the potential to scare people into not vaccinating their children?
Lies and misinformation like the kind Leonard is spreading here have a lot more potential to negatively affect public health than the fairly innocuous side effects that only rarely result from vaccination.
Tim Leonard should be ashamed of himself and correct the record.
