Parents often worry about risks their children face when other parents choose not to vaccinate their children. Vaccines not only protect immunized children, but also those around them.
Unvaccinated children have contributed to the spread of disease outbreaks, similar to the measles outbreak in the U.S. that occurred in 2014-2015. Infants too young to receive vaccines become exposed to children not vaccinated, especially at the doctor's office.
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Some doctors refuse to accept patients who don't have their children vaccinated. This can reduce the parents' concerns about their children being exposed to possible infection.
Here are four doctors who say parents shouldn't have to worry about privacy of vaccine decisions:
1. Dr. Bob Sears, a pediatrician in Capistrano Beach, California, doesn't pressure parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. Instead, he listens to their fears and concerns and then discusses the value of vaccines, along with the few risks. Some patients change their anti-vaccine stance that are often based on false information.
2. Dr. Danelle Fisher, a pediatrician at Providence St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, encourages parents to vaccinate their children for their own and others' protection.
Dr. Fisher tells CBS Los Angeles, "I wouldn't put any child at risk by not vaccinating them and vaccinating them in a timely fashion." During the measles outbreak in 2015, she told parents to keep their unvaccinated children away from public places and keep them at home.
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3. Dr. Aaron Zylstra, a pediatrician at the Sanford Children's Clinic in South Dakota, said parents who worry about vaccine reactions make their own decisions after learning about the effectiveness and small risks of vaccines. A measles outbreak in South Dakota beginning in December 2014 changed a lot of minds. "People are paying more attention," says Dr. Zylstra. Parents who were delaying vaccinations for their children began showing up at his office for shots.
4. British pediatricians David Elliman and Helen Bedford noted that there will always be parents who refuse vaccines for their children based on religious or personal beliefs. Forcing them to vaccinate their children would only create problems because "trying to enforce immunization may actually make matters worse and create martyrs,"
reports The New York Times.
This article is for information only and is not intended as medical advice. Talk with your doctor about your specific health and medical needs.
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