"MMR Scare Has Led to Huge Slump in Child Immunization"
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New figures from the U.K. Department of Health
show major decreases in child vaccination, due in part to fears that the
measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine could be linked to autism or bowel
disease. Vaccination rates for polio, diphtheria, and tetanus have fallen below
the 95 percent "herd" immunity level, with pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae
type b, and MMR coverage also dropping; only meningitis C vaccination rates went
up, health officials said. A Public Health Laboratory Service spokesman says
that part of the reason for the falloff may also be complacency, since some
diseases have disappeared from the community. Scientific consensus holds that
the MMR vaccine is safe, and no other research group has confirmed its link to
the [postulated] health problems, but governmental reassurances have not stopped
the drop in confidence.
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"