"No vaccine is without risk, but it is far riskier not to vaccinate a child against measles than to do so. ... Failure to vaccinate is not solely about personal choice; it's a choice that affects the health of other innocents."

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COMMENTS:
*  The GOP never misses an opportunity to be stupid. Their "fundamental" roots always end up making their stand on principles just look plain stupid.
*  Putting the population at risk is NOT a choice you should have...
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Politicians peddle vaccine nonsense: Our view
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky boost doubts.
By USA Today Editorial Board, February 4, 2015

Chris Christie and Rand Paul must not have gotten the memo: The middle of a measles outbreak is no time for loose talk about making vaccines optional.

On Monday, the New Jersey governor and the Kentucky senator, both likely contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, dived face-first into the emotional debate over childhood vaccines by suggesting that some shots shouldn't be mandatory.

Christie said government should allow "some measure of choice" by parents on vaccinating their young, before backtracking a day later to take a tougher line on measles. It could be, as he said, that all vaccines aren't equal.

Paul, a doctor, plunged in much deeper, saying most vaccines "ought to be voluntary," and recycling foolishness about "normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders."

Their ill-considered commentaries came as measles, virtually eliminated in the USA in 2000, is making a comeback thanks to an anti-vaccine movement that seems impervious to facts.

No vaccine is without risk, but it is far riskier not to vaccinate a child against measles than to do so. From 2006 through 2012, 66 million doses of measles vaccine were distributed. The injury rate: roughly one in a million. But among children who get measles, one or two of every 1,000 will die. You do the math.

Vaccines have vanquished diseases from smallpox to polio, in part because of near universal use, which provides "herd immunity." But when too many parents refuse to vaccinate children, herd immunity breaks down, putting at risk the most vulnerable, including infants too young for a shot and those who should not be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Take Rhett Krawitt, a 6-year-old California boy in remission from leukemia. Chemotherapy has left him unable to be vaccinated. But with rising numbers of children in Marin County getting easy exemptions from otherwise mandatory vaccines, Rhett's father has called on officials to bar unvaccinated children from school. They've refused, leaving Rhett at the mercy of other parents' selfish actions.

Failure to vaccinate is not solely about personal choice; it's a choice that affects the health of other innocents. Nor is vaccination an issue that divides neatly along political or ideological lines. About 76% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans think vaccinations should be required.

President Obama and Hillary Clinton, both strong on vaccines today, gave some credence during the 2008 campaign to a now-discredited theory of a link between vaccines and autism. They were wrong then, just as Christie and Paul are now.

Leaders' best role in the vaccine debate is simple: Replace myths with facts, and encourage parents to inoculate their kids.
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