tired,

While obviously you're entitled to make your own decisions, the vaccination program over the years has gone along way to eradicating those preventable communicable diseases.

I quite enjoy living in a society where polio, diphtheria, measles, etc aren't prevalent.....and there are many countries in the world who don't possess our standard of community health, where these diseases still ravage the population.

I see it like a big "tig-of'war" game - where if you're on a team with many people, you can probably let go and nothing much would happen....but if a whole lot of your team mates let go then you'd all be overwhelmed quite quickly.

Tell me, tired. What do you think would happen if all parents decided not to vaccinate?

Here's a country battling those diseases.....http://www.indianexpress.com/news/calling-the-shots/1106667/1

Some people who are refusing vaccination for their children, think they are doing the right thing.
What if the child later dies because of that act.
Is it child neglect? ,ever?
I am sure it should be, nothing you will do with your life matters in my view as much as the kids.
The debate rages, both sides stick to their guns.
But has one side the right to tell the other?
Think carefully.
IF so and I had young kids I would not want them exposed to non vaccinated kids.

Belly, why would you not want your children to interact with non vaccinated children? If you are so convinced about the safety and efficacy of vaccinations and the vaccination programme then an unvaccinated child should pose not threat. All parents have the right and should retain the right to make an informed choice whether or not to vaccinate. I choose to educate my child with both sides of the debate and eventually it will be his choice whether or not to vaccinate himself as he is now a teenager he is quite intelligent and mature enough to read both sides of the debate and much of the literature. I will support his informed decision. Reading, educating ourselves and being informed is an ongoing activity in this household.

Here is a new article on the push for 'no jab, no play' legislation
http://theconversation.com/with-vaccination-rates-stable-no-jab-no-play-rules-are-beside-the-point-14522?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+22+May+2013&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+22+May+2013+CID_0f96affba7b7f3594f1668f7a5d0f0a3&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=With%20vaccination%20rates%20stable%20no%20jab%20no%20play%20rules%20are%20beside%20the%20point

Tired, you said earlier today, “Suseonline i do hope that you are not implying that people who make an informed decision not to vaccinate are not intelligent?”

Tired, how smart does a mother have to be to reject the science? How uneducated does a mother have to be to generalise from the particular? So, your son did not get whooping cough? He may have had a sub-clinical infection and thus was a reservoir of infection. Have you ever held a child with whooping cough? How would you feel if one of your child’s friends caught whooping cough?

Suseonline probably did not say or imply that you were not intelligent, but I am willing to say that if I had children in a school situation I would demand that the classes exclude children who are not vaccinated from mixing with my child. I see un-vaccinated children as local and intimate pool of infection.

I would also like to add that the greatest contribution modern medicine has made is in the field of public medicine. Improved techniques are good and antibiotics may be a passing benefit, but public health measures are the only medical field to kick real goals, and people like you Tired make it a little bit harder.

Geoffrey Kelley

tired,

It's not really a question of the efficacy of the vaccination.....can you give another reason why polio, diphtheria, measles are no longer common communicable diseases in our society?

That's a serious question.

Why do you think they are no longer around?

".....then an unvaccinated child should pose no threat..."

As I intimated before, non-vaccinating parents are happy to live in a community/society where these diseases have been eradicated through programs and the cooperation of vaccinating parents.

Tired, you have posted a reference that is at odds with my views re ‘no jab, no play’. I can see the softly softly approach the authors are recommending, but I am not convinced by their argument.
Why don’t you, as a ‘vaccine refuser’ go back and read the paragraphs under the heading “Changing the minds of vaccine refusers”. I think you ought to read the whole article again and see if it really does give you, as a ‘vaccine refuser’, any comfort.
Geoffrey Kelley