Apr 05 2009
Immunizations are a choice - but they are a good choice
I am a parent. I had to make the choice to immunize my child or not. I chose to do it. Why? Because not immunizing him would lead to more problems that it was worth.
What happens if someone he knows travel to Switzerland and comes back with the measles, but because that child is immunized he is only a carrier? When they come into contact with my son, if he wasn’t immunized, he could get the measles. And then my son would spread it to other un-immunized children and start an epidemic.
Sure, this is the worst case scenario. There are other things that can happen from not immunizing your child. Mostly they can get diseases that are discomforting in adults, but deadly in children - like whooping cough.
Parents complain about the link to autism. This link has since been disproven. There is nothing to claim that the link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine increases a child’s risk of autism. The MMR vaccine has been proven safe. The second tired claim is that there is mercury in the vaccines. Mercury has been removed in pediatric vaccines, except for some flu vaccines. Therefore, the biggest reasons that parents claimed not to vaccinate their children are gone.
Some parents say the dosages are too much, and too close together. Then the response should be, work with your pediatrician to spread them out. There is nothing wrong with spreading them out a little, and most pediatricians will work with you to do this. If yours won’t, find one who will.
Parents say there is nothing wrong with not immunizing their kid because of herd immunity. Herd immunity exists when 85% or more of the population is vaccinated. That means the unvaccinated people are surrounded by so many vaccinated people that the disease won’t occur. However, this 85% number is soft, and there is no way to prove it. In California, where there is so much travel to other countries, this herd immunity may be compromised. Further, based on the lower number of vaccinated kids entering kindergarten, the 85% threshold is already reached in California. That means herd immunity is disappearing from our children.
How many parents, who are refusing to vaccinate their children, were vaccinated themselves? I would venture to say that most parents were vaccinated, because that is what our parents did.
It is surprising that parents demand that they have the right to choose to vaccinate their children or not. Parents are ok with legislating who can, and cannot, talk on the phone in a car; how much room you have to give animals in pens; not tying a dog to a stationary object for more than three hours; allowing teenages to get abortions without telling their parents; where you can and cannot smoke; and putting children in car seats/booster seats for longer periods of time. Those are all laws that don’t - according to these parent - infringe on your ability to make decisions. However, making all children get vaccinated infringes on their ability to parent how they want to. Too bad. You are a safety risk, and like adults smoking around children, un-vaccinated children put other children at risk.
Stop putting everyone at risk of an outbreak. Vaccinate your children.
