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July 18, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Change in Child Vaccination Law: Step Forward or Step Back?”

San Antonio Express-News (www.mysanantonio.com) (07/16/03) P. 7B; Lane, Daniel McNeel

Dr. Daniel McNeel Lane writes in an opinion piece that the last major outbreak of childhood infection in the United States occurred in the 1960s, too long ago for most parents and physicians to remember.  That disconnect from past events has clouded the understanding of vaccine-preventable disease among today’s parents and pediatricians,  according to Lane, leading to a growing number of people who want to decide for themselves whether their children should be vaccinated against illnesses, rather than relying on the recommendation of epidemiologists and other scientists who have experience with or knowledge of childhood disease.  Lane recalls episodes of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, rubella, and mumps that caused death, permanent disability, or long-term hospitalization in infants and young children, and the last major measles epidemic of 1963, when more than 600,000 American children contracted the disease, while polio was a debilitating disease that often caused the closure of community centers such as swimming pools because of its easy transmission between children. Lane believes that parents who do not immunize their children are to blame for any illness that befalls them, while the Texas legislature, which recently passed a voluntary immunization law, should be held accountable should any major epidemic of vaccine-preventable disease occur in the state.