Editorial: Irrational fears -- Some parents' refusal to have their children vaccinated puts a generation at risk

Childhood diseases that once were eradicated -- or nearly so -- are slowly resurging across the United States, all because an increasing number of parents are opting out of vaccinating their kids.

Unreasonable fears about the medical side effects of inoculations appear to be reaching a fever pitch, putting an entire generation of children in danger of contracting whooping cough, Hepatitis B and the measles.

Numerous medical studies have shown that failing to vaccinate children leads to widespread outbreaks of highly contagious diseases. This type of irresponsibility can prove deadly for children who are genuinely allergic to immunization shots, along with infants, senior citizens and those with compromised immune systems due to cancer, AIDS or other serious ailments.

California is one of 20 states that allows parents to avoid school-required immunization requirements simply by signing a document that states they have a "personal" opposition to the shots. Whooping cough in particular has surged in our state over the past two years.

Unfortunately a growing number of parents are refusing to vaccinate their children based on a discredited study that claimed measles vaccine caused autism. They need to educate themselves on the fact that the benefits of immunizations far outweigh any debunked risks.

Some parents have religious opposition to immunizations, while some children are outright allergic to vaccinations -- those reasons are understandable. But arguments about costs or inaccessibility to vaccinations ring hollow because free shots are usually available at schools and county clinics.

Hopefully this alarming trend will reverse itself at the start of next year, when a new state law goes into effect requiring parents who don't want their children vaccinated to submit waivers signed by physicians stating that they received information about the risks and benefits of vaccines.

The legislation was submitted by Sacramento-area Assemblyman Richard Pan, a pediatrician. The idea is that heightened parental awareness and education about childhood vaccinations will help to stop the spread of preventable communicable diseases.

Some childhood diseases should be caught so that the body can build up a natural immunity. But, others are so dangerous that they pose terrifying risks to society at large.

It's clear that vaccinations are crucial to the overall health of all children and our communities. There is simply no excuse for once-eradicated childhood diseases to be making a comeback, given our medical advances.

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