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June 21, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Judge Overrules Father's Objection to Vaccination"

Toronto Star (www.thestar.com) (06/20/02) P. A18; Palmer, Karen; Lu, Vanessa

After hearing a father's pleas to exempt his two children, ages eight years and five and a half years, from required childhood vaccinations due to fears that the vaccines will cause the children to become mentally handicapped like two of his relatives, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that vaccines against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus are in the best interest of the children.  Vaccination Risk Awareness Network coordinator Edda West asserts that some parents believe the risks associated with vaccinations are greater than the diseases themselves, especially parents who have witnessed such adverse events to vaccines in their own children. Mount Sinai Hospital director of infection Allison McGeer supports childhood immunizations and believes today's parents are of a generation that never had to deal with measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, which makes the decision not to vaccinate children easy for some parents.  Health officials point to misinformation on the Internet that is leading a growing fear among parents to get vaccinations for their children.

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