Health Blog May Archive

Immunization Won't Kill Your Baby, Might Save Her

There's a growing trend among new parents to not immunize children, and it's a troubling trend that seems to be based on nothing but flawed logic. Parents say, "If all the other kids are immunized, my baby doesn't need to be." But all the children aren't immunized, their own, for example, and if nasty diseases make it into the school, they'll be stricken quicker than anyone.

If mumps comes into the school, the outbreak won't even be noticed, because only the [404 Check: was link to http:/ / news. google. com/ news/ url?sa=t&ct=us/ 3 -0&fp=465ec6d36add5fac&ei=w8FeRrrSAoSMoQPWqKDUDQ&url=http%3A/ / www. cambridgetimes. ca/ cam/ viewpoint/ viewpoint_ 799464. html&cid=0, anchor: kids not immunized] will catch it. The only way you can get around shots (which are 99% required to attend public school) is by claiming a religious objection. If your objection really is religious, get over it. If your objection is fake-religious, bear in mind that the child from a distant, high-risk nation, may have the same religious aversion, and come bearing gifts of deadly disease.

I knew a pediatrician who didn't immunize his kids, and that's crazy. He felt the .001% risk of getting sick was too great for the potential benefits, which may include death... yet all day he immunized other people's kids for cash, so you plainly can't trust that guy.