(Thimerosal ban) Vaccine Rule Is Said to Hurt Health Efforts

[yellowcanine]

53. "a single child..." That is not the herd immunity concept.

A child here and there not being vaccinated does not make all hell break loose. That is the point of herd immunity. But if lots of people don't vaccinate their children - which is what will happen if the anti-vaccine crowd prevails - then herd immunity does break down and people get sick and some die. I don't know if that qualifies as "all hell breaking loose" or not. And in particular, people with dysfunctional immune systems for whatever reason, are more vulnerable. Children with compromised immune systems are more in danger from other children because they are around them more at schools and day care facilities. Also the pediatricians office. This is why most pediatricians require that children they are treating be immunized. (Vets are the same way with cats and dogs) Adults who are around children a lot (school teachers, pediatric nurses, etc) also are required to get immunizations. I got a T- DAP so I would not put my newborn grandchild in jeopardy. This is recommended because newborns cannot be vaccinated until they are several months old. But newborns typically don't go out much - at least they shouldn't for the first several months. Regardless, more people being vaccinated lowers the risk for everyone - and it is not just the people who aren't vaccinated who are at risk. Some people do not respond to the vaccine. They are at risk as well when the herd immunity is low. The ignorance of the anti vaccine crowd notwithstanding, these concepts are quite well understood and there is no scientific reason not to press for wide scale vaccination of populations. It is the major difference between public health in the 1920s when children and adults died in droves from communicable diseases and public health in 2012, when deaths from communicable diseases are relatively rare, even in many third world countries.