Debate over necessity of vaccinations erupts after measles outbreak

SAN DIEGO A measles outbreak in California last month where 12 unvaccinated children had contracted measles, sparked a debate among public health officials and parents on the importance of taking vaccinations, according to the New York Times.

In the United States, over 90 percent of children that are able to take vaccines do get them, but a growing number of parents have resisted based on unfounded fears that vaccines cause autism and other unnecessary complications to children.

According to Saad Omar, an assistant scientist at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health, in 1991, only one percent of children did not receive vaccines in states where personal-belief exemptions are offered. Personal belief exemptions are regulations that allow parents to opt-out on having their children receive vaccinations, because of personal objections to them. The most recent estimates, from 2004, indicate that the number of children in these states has increased to 2.54 percent.

These figures worry public health officials, who feel, according to the Times, that if more parents decide not to have their children vaccinated, it will result in unnecessary illnesses affecting many children. “The very success of immunizations has turned out to be an Achilles’ heel,” said Mark Sawyer, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. “Most of these parents have never seen measles, and don’t realize it could be a bad disease so they turn their concerns to unfounded risks. They do not perceive risk of the disease but perceive risk of the vaccine.”

Many statistics show that death from measles in particular, which causes brain swelling and pneumonia, has decreased 68 percent from 2000 to 2006 because of vaccinations. Children who have taken necessary vaccines against various illnesses could also be affected by illnesses from other children who neglect to do so.