Consequences of Refusing Vaccines

The USA Today published an article that discusses how parents refusing vaccines for their children are actually increasing childhood illnesses that were once thought to be eradicated. 

As of June 10, 152 chases of measles have been reported across the USA: 53 patients (35%) had to be hospitalized.

Parents who decline vaccines may not realize that they're gambling with the lives of not just their kids, but all the children around them, says Patsy Stinchfield, director of pediatric infectious disease at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, where Landon was treated. Measles can kill by causing pneumonia, brain inflammation and other complications, Stinchfield says. Babies too young to be vaccinated and people with compromised immune systems, such as those with cancer, are especially vulnerable. They rely on others around them to keep the virus out of circulation, a phenomenon known as "herd immunity," which protects even those who can't be vaccinated, she says.

 Measles is a preventable disease.

Click here to read the USA Today Article.