Show of hands: how many of your kids have had polio? Measles? Mumps? I'd venture to guess that most of you have vaccinated your kids against those and other diseases. There are a surprising number of parents who are opting out of vaccinations, and to many parents (myself included), that decision is seen as irresponsible and fraught with peril - not only for the child in question, but other kids who may come into contact with those who have not been vaccinated.
Over at Babble, reporter Liza Featherstone contributes a thoughtful but tough look at the anti-vaccination movement. She explores the myriad of reasons why some parents choose not to give their kids shots; chief among these are fears of autism, side effects, and actually contracting the disease that the vaccine was supposed to prevent. According to Featherstone, such fears are based on misinformation, inference, and flawed logic. Indeed, she wonders how it that people are "more willing to believe a random article on the internet than scientists who have spent their lives studying vaccines."
The problem here, notes Featherstone, is that the choice to not vaccinate has repercussions beyond one's own child. Featherstone cites outbreaks of whopping cough in Colorado, a state with a considerable number of "vaccine resistors" (also of note but not mentioned in the piece: an outbreak of mumps in the Midwest last year and another outbreak of measles in Boston - in the measles case, the outbreak was traced back to a computer programmer from India, a country where only 56% of the population is thought to be vaccinated against the disease. Gee.) So - to vaccinate, or not? Tell us what you think.
