People Can Be So Dumb

So, I've already stated my view of vaccines here. Now I read this story and I wonder what is wrong with people. Can they seriously claim that they think the vaccines are worse than the diseases they are intended to prevent? Really? Would they like to travel to third world countries and see people- mostly kids- suffering from and maybe dying of measles, or whooping cough? Do they want to go to the places where polio is still a problem and see children die and be crippled? Sorry for the hysterical tone of this, but the selfishness of these parents makes me so angry. I think something people may not understand is that vaccination only works when enough people do it. These selfish, idiot parents who choose not to vaccinate are free riders on the backs of me and so many other parents who are, you know, concerned about our children's health. If we all stopped vaccinating, guess what? These diseases come back. For everyone. So by failing to vaccinate, they are putting my kid at risk, not just their own. (Which, I mean, really, why again would you not want to keep your child safe from these potentially deadly diseases? Autism? Based on completely disproven research which has been disavowed by its authors?? Idiots.)

The thing that boggled my mind, though, was the very end of the article, when a pediatrician is on record as encouraging the parents of her charges to take a philosophical objection to vaccines. Wow, that seems to be almost complaint-worthy to the Massachusetts medical board to me. At the very least, it violates "First, do no harm." I guess I'm just flabbergasted that there is a pediatrician willing to go on record as encouraging failure to vaccinate. Like I said, it's irresponsible at best, and malpractice at worst. Also crazy. Really insane.

I think I'm not really cut out to be a typical Yuppie, since not vaccinating is the trendy thing right now. I think I just care about the health of my daughter too much. I'm really concerned about sending her to preschool; I bet there is no way to know how many of her classmates aren't vaccinated.