You and your newborn daughter arrive to pick up your son from school. You walk into your child's school and learn that there has been an outbreak of whooping cough. You decide not to worry because your son received his vaccinations. But wait, what about your newborn girl?
Many parents feel safe from vaccine-preventable diseases like whopping cough and measles. That feeling of safety is partly because the public health initiatives to vaccinate children had been successful. In the past, most children remained unvaccinated only for medical or religious reasons. Currently, anti-vaccine advocates are dominating the news with flashy celebrities and their misinformation on vaccine safety. That has left many parents confused about vaccines. Due to this, many parents have chosen not to vaccinate leaving many communities and schools exposed to preventable disease.
An article by the New England Journal of Medicine cites that parents in over 48 states can choose not to vaccinate their kids for any non medical reason. Did I emphasize, any non-medical reason? The same New England Journal of Medicine article states "Major reasons for vaccine refusal in the United States are parental perceptions and concerns about vaccine safety and a low level of concern about the risk of many vaccine-preventable disease(s)."
Parents of unvaccinated children assume that their children are safe from disease. As a pediatrician, and a mother, it seems incredible that their assumption is that whooping cough is safer than the vaccine. These parents rely on herd immunity , the likelihood that your vaccinated children will not be ill and therefore will not pass disease along to their unvaccinated children.
But are these unvaccinated children really safe from disease? A recent study in the June 2009 Pediatrics journal demonstrated that children who were not vaccinated for whooping cough are 23 times more likely than the vaccinated children to get the disease. The herd immunity works only if the entire herd is vaccinated. If you have more people in the community choosing not vaccinate the concept no longer applies. So, contrary to those parents beliefs, unvaccinated children are more likely to get whooping cough.
Parents of vaccinated children may think that their children are safe from these diseases. However, in the case of an illness such as whopping cough, the vaccines immunity can wane with time or the vaccine can fail to cause immunity. Enter an unvaccinated child with whooping cough in a large school and vaccinated children can be affected also. Now bring home a new baby brother or sister, a grandparent or an immunosurpressed individual and the entire community is affected with severe disease . The same New England Journal of Medicine article states "Vaccine refusal not only increases the individual risk of disease but also increases the risk for the whole community." Recently in the US , we are experiencing the largest measles outbreaks in years partially due to the increased number of unvaccinated children.
As a parent, it seems unfair that another parents decision not to vaccinate can have harmful consequences for my community and my family. The question many physicians and parents are asking is, does a parent have a right to refuse a vaccine for a non-medical reason? As a parent, I do believe parents should have the right to choose for their children. However, that right to opt out of vaccination process should come with disease and vaccine education. I will repeat myself here: the consequences of a single parents decision not to vaccinate can affect entire communities and cost innocent people their lives. The same NEJM study describes a proposed law in Arkansas which would "suggest that parents seeking non medical exemptions be provided with counseling on the hazards of refusing vaccination."
Parents need to stand together to protect our children and communities.
2 comments:
I'm sorry if you feel that my children are a danger to yours, but you are, I'm sure, aware of the research showing that vaccinated children can be carriers of the diseases against which they are vaccinated and are therefore a danger to unvaccinated children. I choose not to bypass my childrens' natural, god-given immune systems. I choose not to inject my children with mercury, aluminum, and other toxins.
Sorry. Deal with it.
I wholly agree with your article. I am so tired of "internet educated" parents who believe that opposition to the medical community is synonymous with responsible and enlightened parenting. Vaccines are simply training your children's "natural, god-given immune systems" to deal with future threats. Though vaccines may have some side effects (as most medicines do), the benefits to individuals and communities as a whole far outweighs the risk of these (mostly mild and rare) side effects. I think it's time the medical community attacks the issue in the same way that anti-vaccination groups have. Obviously, cold, hard facts are not having an effect-it's time to use anecdotal stories of children sickened by these terrible diseases to engage people emotionally.
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