To the editor: The delay and refusal of childhood vaccines are a critical threat to the health of our communities. As a pediatrician and vaccine administration researcher, I have similar experiences with vaccine-hesitant parents to those presented in the article. (“More and more parents are delaying their children's vaccinations, and this alarms pediatricians,” March 11)
However, before giving up hope, it is essential to remember that the majority of parents in the US continue to recognize the value of vaccines and vaccinate their children.
In a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, I argue with my co-authors that incorrectly assuming that parental vaccine hesitancy is the norm can be harmful. This false narrative can negatively influence vaccine policy, degrade healthcare providers' confidence in their ability to influence vaccination behavior, and contribute to parents' self-doubt about the value of vaccines.
Efforts to improve parental confidence in vaccines should focus on the overwhelming majority of parents who choose to vaccinate their children according to the schedules recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
David Higgins, MD, Centennial, Colorado.
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To the editor: I was born in 1946, before most of the vaccines we have today were invented. My sister and I had mumps and measles. She also had polio.
We were very sick with a high fever. In addition to my sister, two neighbor children had polio. I remember my sister screaming for hot baths every day and my mother taking her to physical therapy. Taxi drivers volunteered to take these sick children for treatment. I have seen children crippled by polio.
There was no question about when the Salk vaccine came out: my mother got it for us. My four daughters and their sons received their vaccines as soon as possible.
If you don't vaccinate your children, there is a higher chance that they will get very sick or even die. Your child could also infect others or cause the death of other children with compromised immunity. Do you really want to be the one to kill these kids?
Cheryl Younger, Los Angeles
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To the editor: It's not complicated. Whenever a parent places a child in a preschool, daycare, or any setting that requires the child to interact with others, that parent must present a vaccination certificate.
Parents today need to work. Children today need to be vaccinated. Final point.
Joan Walston, Santa Monica
