Monday, October 30, 2006
Anti-vaccine activists: "They are enemies of the people"
I have maintained that not vaccinating children is akin to child abuse. Here's taking it one step further:Respectful Insolence and Kevin, M.D., characterize parents who refuse to vaccinate their children as guilty of child neglect. I'll go one step further. These parents' selfish decisions are hurting more than their own children. By defeating one of the core missions of public health -- that of conferring herd immunity from easily preventable communicable diseases -- these parents are harming entire populations. They are hurting other people's children. To put it coarsely but accurately, they are enemies of the people.
Posted by Kevin |
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I agree wholeheartedly. Part of the social fabric that holds society together and improves the lives of all is the small relinquishment of independent society-be-damned behaviors. We agree to some moderation of speeds on the highways so that more can arrive at their destination intact; we waive our right to display our genitals in public so that others do not corrupt our children; and we offer our arms for vaccinations at some very small personal risk (< 1 in a million) so that all, ourselves included, avoid the very grave risks inherent in these diseases (many orders of magnitude greater in the pre-vaccine era).
Those who shirk vaccination and sponge off society are no better than any other leach upon the world. The registries of the unvaccinated should be kept at hand by health departments so that in epidemic conditions these people can be rounded up and quarantined for the risk they pose the greater society.
It is their civil right to not be vaccinated, but is also the right of a society to protect itself from erant individuals.
Those who shirk vaccination and sponge off society are no better than any other leach upon the world. The registries of the unvaccinated should be kept at hand by health departments so that in epidemic conditions these people can be rounded up and quarantined for the risk they pose the greater society.
It is their civil right to not be vaccinated, but is also the right of a society to protect itself from erant individuals.
I am all for vaccinations. One example of what happens when people stop vaccinating is the return of diphteria during the collapse of the Soviet Union. And over there people had good reason to refuse vaccinations: the lack of hypodermic needles and the fear of contracting AIDS.
As someone who grew up in the Soviet Union, however, I think one should avoid terms like "the enemy of the people". I wonder if the author of the referenced post knows of the
history of this expression.
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As someone who grew up in the Soviet Union, however, I think one should avoid terms like "the enemy of the people". I wonder if the author of the referenced post knows of the
history of this expression.
# posted by 
: 11:35 PM
: 11:35 PM
