Childhood Vaccinations

This is one of those times when Nike’s “just do it” mantra fits quite well.

Most individuals who oppose childhood vaccination do so for religious reasons*. I’m a big believer in the Constitution’s freedom of religion promise. And I fully support individuals engaging in their respective religious practices. However, my support lasts only so long as those practices don’t infringe on the rights of others. The way I see it, in the case of vaccination, children easily fall into that “others” category. As for infringing on rights, disease certainly does a number the Declaration of Independence’s offer of “life” and the “pursuit of happiness.”

Denying children access to life-saving vaccination on the basis of religion is creating small, vulnerable populations particularly susceptible to deadly and disabling diseases. These are populations that gather on a regular basis (churches, synagogues, etc.) to share germs collected over the previous week. Ever seen a cold break out in a pre-school? It’s like that, except rather than a sore throat, your child gets mumps and he’s gambling with permanent deafness or perhaps meningitis and at the very best he risks brain and behavioral changes, movement problems, organ failure and a lifetime of severe headaches. This, my friends, is when Sunday school classes get deadly.

So how does this apply to Texas? Currently Texas children must be vaccinated against Polio, Dipthereia/Tetanus/Pertussis, Measles, Rubella, Mumps, Hepatitis B, Varicella (Chicken Pox), and Hepatitis A before attending public school (including pre-school). That is, unless their parents want them to be exempt. All they have to do is request forms from the health department (there’s an online submission form) and send them in. (The Lone Star College System has a pretty good outline of the typical steps to obtain a ‘conscientious objection’ to vaccination).

While I don’t think Texas (vaccination policy is decided at the state level) should step in and strong arm parents into getting their kids vaccinated, I DO think Texas needs to do a better job getting out the truth about the relative risks vs. benefits of vaccinating vs. not. Why should Texas do this? Daily Finance discusses the state savings resulting from vaccinations (“Every $1 spent on the childhood series of seven vaccines…saves $16.50 of medical spending later”). Secondly, it’s the right thing to do. I think at this point, many parents are operating based on the false impression that vaccines cause autism (this was a scam courtesy of Dr. Andrew Wakefield…25 later studies found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism) (Daily Finance).

In addition, I think religious organizations need to consider the relative risk to their parishioners. From a wholly pragmatic perspective, endangering the lives of parishioners doesn’t bode well for the spread of religion (both from a media standpoint as well as a ‘less parishioners’ standpoint). I believe children should be exempt from religious practices that are dangerous to their health until they have the mental wherewithal to decide whether to take up the religious customs in full.

*-To be clear, I am not opposed to individuals not receiving vaccinations on the basis of health concerns. I agree with forgoing vaccination if a physician believes that it will pose a greater risk to the child than the risk of the disease against which the child is being vaccinated.