We live in an age of advanced scientific knowledge that produces vaccines that can ward off diseases such as measles, rubella, mumps and polio. We also live in an age when an increasing number of parents want the option of not vaccinating their children against these highly contagious and potentially fatal diseases.
Only 71% of people recently polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation believe that parents should be required to vaccinate their children to attend public schools, compared with 82% in 2019, the same as in 2016. This is akin to thinking that driving through a red light won’t have any consequences.
The poll reflects a small but growing percentage of parents choosing not to vaccinate their kids against preventable childhood diseases driven by a surge in misinformation spread online through social media. And it’s having a real effect on public health. A measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio, in November sickened 82 children, most of them unvaccinated and younger than 5. None of them died, but 32 were hospitalized.
