We re pretty sure that by now you re at least somewhat familiar with the fraudulent (and supremely damaging) research done (made up, really) by Andrew Wakefield the former physician whose
MMR
Last week, the New York City Department of Health announced that it is investigating an outbreak of measles in northern Manhattan and the Bronx. By March 7, the NYC DOH had identified 16 cases seven adults and nine pediatric cases.
Public health educators may believe that rationally advising parents about the facts of vaccine safety will lead them to abandon their fears of side-effects. However, a new survey study seems to show that, while a battle may be won, the war is lost.
We at ACSH are happy to give a shout-out to Sheila M. Eldred, whose August op-ed on Discovery.com reflects what we have been screaming for years that the failure to have children vaccinated is a terrible mistake that is caused by a number of factors.
It is hardly news that some people are ardently anti-vaccine (for NO good reason). And it is intuitively obvious that when children don t get vaccinated their risk for contracting a given infection is higher.