Unvaccinated Children Cause Measles Outbreak
I found this article…a little inflammatory, don’t you think? Here’s what it says:
Some parents’ refusal to vaccinate children seems to be behind the highest rate of measles cases reported since 1996, federal officials said Thursday.
Between Jan. 1 and July 31 of this year, 131 measles cases have been reported in the United States, many of them among children whose parents have philosophical or religious objections to the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 15 patients, including four children 15 months or younger, were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
By comparison, 55 cases of measles were reported in 2006, 66 in 2005, 37 in 2004, 56 in 2003 and 44 in 2002, for an average of about 64 per year.
Since we have many readers of this blog that don’t vaccinate and some that do, this seems to be a good topic of discussion. For the record, I did vaccinate my son, finally but not completely and waffled a lot about it.
What do you think? Is this hyperbole? Is it a real concern?
Photo Credit: tomeppy at Flickr Under Creative Commons License
I had a blood test a while ago showing immunity to measles, but have never been vaccinated for it and never had it (at least no symptoms). Debating now what to do for my newborn… There does seem to be a correlation between the increasing number of required vaccinations and the rise in chronic diseases. I prefer acute over chronic as long as the acute doesn’t cause death. Death from measles is rare in this country.
Katie-
“I know exactly how to treat any and every disease my children may contract that immunizations supposedly protect from. None of them scare me more than the injections themselves. Knowledge is key. Learn how to nurse your children when they’re sick and you’ll be just fine.”
Could you suggest good reference books?
It’s actually teens and young adults usually who start the outbreaks. They get it because the effect of the vaccine has worn off at that point. Rather than preventing measles, the vaccines are just shifting the effected population. Why don’t you see this in the news???
As you make the decision not to vaccinate a child, do you think of the ramafications later in that child’s life? What if they want to join the military? They can’t without vaccinations. What if they want to travel to Europe or elsewhere? They can’t without vaccinations. Your parents made the decision to vaccinate you and you didn’t turn out bad