Following the 1994 enactment of the Vaccines for Children
program — which was aimed to provide vaccinations for children whose parents
could not otherwise afford them —rates for many routine vaccines rose to 90
percent or higher. However, we are now seeing a re-emergence of many of the
diseases targeted by these vaccines, including pertussis and measles. Writer
Puneet Kollipara reports in his article in the Washington Post that health officials blame
this on the fact that more parents are choosing not to have their children
vaccinated on the basis of personal or religious exemptions.
Although Kollipara suggests that the “public’s awareness
of vaccination might have decreased” as a result of the diseases being
vaccinated against becoming rare enough to fade from memory, the major culprit
for parents choosing not to vaccinate their children is the rise of the
anti-vaccine movement. Celebrities, demagogues and activists continue to claim
that vaccines cause autism and other feared diseases even though “science gives
a resounding no.” They claim that the mercury-based preservative thimerosal
will cause brain damage. Well, even though thimerosal is generally recognized
as safe, it’s not even present in most vaccines anymore. Others claim that the
CDC’s vaccine schedule will overwhelm a child’s immune system. Even though that
was not true in the first place, the main ingredients in vaccines have
decreased in amount. ….To Read More
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