- How responsible are these non-vaccinating parents for my pertussis? Very. A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics indicated that outbreaks of these antediluvian diseases clustered where parents filed non-medical exemptions—that is, where parents decided not to vaccinate their kids because of their personal beliefs. The study found that areas with high concentrations of conscientious objectors were 2.5 times more likely to have an outbreak of pertussis. (To clarify: I was vaccinated against pertussis as a child, but the vaccine wears off by adulthood, which, until recently, was rarely a problem because the disease wasn't running rampant because of people not vaccinating their kids.)
I'm mostly of the mindset "do whatever you want to" - if you decide to make an idiotic decision that kills you, that's your own damn fault. Natural selection, etc. My friend often explained things like this under the context of "crimes against society." If you want so snort coke in your own apartment go for it. If you start robbing people to get money for your coke we are going to have a problem. The problem I have with the anti-vaxers is similar but to an even more disgusting extreme. The people making the decisions aren't just harming themselves. They are potentially harming their children who have neither the ability to make the decision nor the age/experience/education to realize or understand the decision their parents have made. Add to that the obvious problems with your unvaccinated kids getting my kids sick with diseases that should be long extinct. I don't know if punishment is the best solution for this. I think its overreaching and would probably end up doing more harm than good. What we need is more education and awareness of the value of vaccinations. Ideally that education would come from a figure similar to Jenny McCarthy. The types of people who make decisions like this aren't your fully educated, well researched citizens. Those people already vaccinate themselves and their kids. Anti-vaxxers are daytime talk show watching, sensationalist loving moms. Those moms listen to figures like Jenny, not 30 second PSAs on TV or your old, white male politician.
The extremely vulnerable group you have left out of picture is people who have some kind of immune deficiency. Old folks, people undergoing various medical procedures like chemo, kids to young to be vaccinated and a wide range of illnesses can leave people without the resistances they would normally be able to muster. A case of whooping cough might be all it takes to put grandma in the grave a few years earlier than necessary. Some of the immunizations given to kids now a days are as much about protecting vulnerable populations than the kids (chicken pox vaccine). Heard immunity is powerful.
We run into the same problem at my office. I work in a hospital. It is mandated that every employee get a flu vaccine every year. To me it's a no brainer. However, every year I hear the same bullshit: "I never get sick, so why do I need the vaccine"; "Last year I got the vaccine and then I got the flu right away"; "I just don't think it's fair that they can tell me what to put in my body"; etc, etc, etc. I used to try to reason with people. Now I just get pissed and remind them that the for cancer patients that they pass by in the hallway without even knowing it, or never pass by at all but leave their germs for on each door handle and hanging in the air, a flu isn't an inconvenience, it's a death sentence, so shame on them for being so goddam selfish. It usually works.
I certainly don't think that any kind of retributive action would help, but I do think that seeing people who contract the diseases that might have been prevented by vaccines would go a long way toward changing opinions. Most people have never seen how quickly outbreaks of diseases that are all but gone in more developed parts of the world, can devastate a population.I don't know if punishment is the best solution for this.
Ugh. I'm not a fan of pharmaceutical corporations in the slightest, but parents who don't vaccinate their kids are incredibly irresponsible. I think if parents choose not to vaccinate against things that have been proven to respond to vaccinations should be penalized. I don't know exactly how though; isolating children could be detrimental developmentally and grouping unvaccinated kids could be the recipe for disaster, but there must be some option that protects the public from diseases their choices could be fostering.
I'm not sure how to handle that situation either, but I'm certainly in favor of other parents knowing who the kids in the class are that haven't been vaccinated are.
Simple: tax them. They're Americans and they hate paying for "nothing". Their nothing costs us, so it's billable. Make sure it's at least $2000 per avoided vaccine if the person is not a member of an established religious group (in other words, we aren't going to charge the Amish but we'll charge the bleep out of Derpers). This will also take care of labeling who is avoiding. They won't shut up about it: "I cant believe I have to shell out two grand just because I don't want to vaccinate my precious child." "I can't believe I almost let my kid play with yours. Heck, I'm telling the HOA so everyone knows."
Follow up links and response from Discover: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2013/11/vaccination-s.../
Thanks, it's a good read. While I agree that the solution involves public shaming. The idea that a family can simply move or relocate away from the problem is idealistic. It's not that simple, unfortunately.
Didn't see this got shared here. FOR THE RECORD: The current outbreak of pertussis started in and around Puget Sound amongst immigrant communities with limited public health compliance. The primary locii of non-vaccination are Malibu and Eugene, neither of which are experiencing much in the way of pertussis. SOURCE: My wife is a naturopathic doctor who teaches vaccine education classes four times a year and has many patients in and around Malibu. Her best friend was a naturopathic doctor and public health worker in and around Puget Sound. Yeah, it's fun shouting at Jenny McCarthy. No, your whooping cough isn't to blame for it. For that, shout at globalization. It's the same thing that gave you tuberculosis in the '90s. Now shut up.