Re:To Protect His Son, a Father Asks School to Bar Unvaccina...
by mc32 on Tuesday January 27, 2015 @11:47PM
(#8958171)
My personal opinion is that if people could pin patient zero on an un-immunized underage person, the affected person should be able to bring a civil lawsuit against the offenders --with exceptions for infirm, very young, immuno-deficient.
Else this is crazy --and educated people of all people. I can't understand it. It does however, bring their intellect esteem down to earth. What I mean is it highlights that experts can be just as wrong in their conclusion as "nutters".
Vaccines don't always take. These people depend on herd immunity - high rates of vaccination in the general population - for protection. Then there are people like the one in the article, kids who cannot be vaccinated. Some have allergies to vaccine ingredients, some have had their immune systems destroyed by chemo. Others are simply too young to have gotten certain vaccines that are given later in life.
> If vaccination works, why do we care that a small minority aren't vaccinated?
Because it only works when enough people get it. 90-95% for many diseases is required, and there are some populations in California where the rates have dropped to the 60s.
edit: Actually, dropped to the 30s-40s, it seems. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/wealthy-la...