Skipping vaccines endangers all
Khalil Ismael of Amityville, 9, receives his Hepatitis A vaccine in Farmingdale. Khalil received the vaccination as part of his checkup (Aug. 5, 2011) Credit: Barry Sloan
More parents are opting not to have their children vaccinated against serious diseases, and that's bad news for all of us.
In a special report, The Associated Press found that the number of parents opting out rose in more than half the states since 2006-07, including New York. In eight states, more than one in 20 kindergartners aren't getting all their shots.
The issue isn't so much access as ignorance. The journal Pediatrics reported recently that more than one in 10 parents said they delayed or refused kids' shots for safety reasons.
But the risk from vaccination is minimal; what's dangerous is withholding it. In this year's outbreak of whooping cough in Suffolk County, most sufferers had mild cases because they had been vaccinated. Unvaccinated infants are especially vulnerable.
Parents who reject vaccines for their kids may not realize it, but they're endangering the health of children who, for underlying medical reasons, are unable to get the vaccines. Parents who say no to the shots out of fear are unfairly relying on the willingness of others to have them, since mass immunization is what keeps diseases such as polio and diphtheria at bay. Even vaccinated kids aren't 100 percent protected, so they're at risk from the unvaccinated, too.
Vaccination is crucial. So are efforts by schools, government officials and physicians to counteract the disregard for science that is behind the anti-vaccine movement. Your kid's life may be at stake.
