Childhood Vaccine Opinion

Parents who refuse vaccines put other people's "children in harm's way," clinician says.
In an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times (6/1), Pamela Nguyen, of UCLA's Mattel Children's Hospital, pointed out that, according to CDC data, "there were 197,000 measles deaths worldwide" in 2007. The following year, "a seven-year-old unvaccinated child who was exposed to the virus while abroad" ignited an outbreak in San Diego. Still, "many parents continue not to vaccinate their children." Some believe certain "vaccine-preventable diseases" are "no longer a threat," while "parents in the San Diego outbreak...were afraid of autism." This is "creating large reservoirs of susceptibility, primarily in private and charter schools that are generally free from state restrictions." In other words, "by choosing not to vaccinate, parents put not only their own children, but also other peoples' 'children in harm's way.'"