Friday, January 13, 2006

vaccine rant

ooh, I forgot about this. Yay! I love to get up on my high horse. Anyway, we live in California, where many things are tried out and discarded before the rest of the nation even hears about them. All right, that's kind of snotty, but kind of true. And currently it is fashionable amongst new parents to not vaccinate their children. Or at least express Grave Concern over the safety of vaccinations and decide to wait until later. This drives me CRAZY!
I had Gabriel at a birth center, because though I am a medical student, I am not crazy about hospitals. Actually, I like hospitals fine, I just don't like my being a patient in a hospital. Plus, during my OB/GYN rotation, every childbirth I attended boiled down to about 4 people staring at the poor woman's anaesthetized crotch and yelling Push! Push! So not me. Anyhoo, by opting out of THAT scenario, I found myself in the world of birth alternatives. There are many cool and wonderful things to be found here, but as one might expect, it also attracts those with Grave Concerns regarding medicine in general. During natural childbirth classes people were sharing tips on homeopathic doctors who see children and don't believe in vaccination. I am all for homeopathy. Whatever works is my motto. But vaccines represent the pinnacle in public health, the ultimate preventive medicine. You will never get these diseases! To decide not to vaccinate your children is to rely upon the herd immunity of the larger population which depends on, yes, widespread vaccination. In effect you are saying: I don't care about anyone else, my child is the only one that matters. This sort of thinking is so incredibly selfish it takes my breath away.
Why?
1) There is no solid, scientific evidence and NO good studies that link vaccines to autism.
2) While serious vaccine complications exist they are so incredibly rare it is almost ridiculous.
3) Oh, and children die of these diseases.
Actually it was living in Mali that made this whole issue crystal clear for me. Because children did die of measles, meningitis and were horribly maimed by polio. Every year. For want of that MMR a family is devastated, a child is lost.
So that's my vaccine rant.

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