I wouldn't be so fast to blame immigrants.
About the time, my son was born, 17 years ago, parents started opting out on the "pertussis vaccine."
I know many parents who have, and they aren't immigrants.
My pediatrician advised against opting out because he said the risks of the pertussis vaccine are small, but the consequences of whooping cough are grave.
I seriously can't remember now why everybody was scared about the vaccine (had to do with some reaction, or something.) Maybe somebody else can fill us in as to why parents opted out of the "P" in DPT.
Googled the risk from the "P" vaccine.
Encephalopathy leading to permanent neurological damage.
Here's a link.
http://nvic.org/History/1989workshop.htm
It was being put out in the media that severe reactions were leading to Autism and severe brain damage.
Something came out that we were getting our vaccine from Japan and there was a quality control issue allowing "bad" doses slip by.
Truth to it all I dunno.
I remember in 1980 it was an issue as well so, I wonder when certain "experts" began telling mothers that the risks of immunization were too great, the 60's perhaps?
My nephew was severely brain damaged by a DPT shot. He has severe seizures to this day, and at 21, functions at the level of a three year old. He never spoke again.
Lots of info on what caused the DPT scare here. There seems to be less bias in that report than in many others I read. From the report I've linked, is the following paragraph:
Until 1982 when WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. aired a documentary on pertussis vaccine reactions, most American parents (and most doctors) were unaware that the vaccine could cause death and permanent brain damage. Few parents were informed about the definition of a high-risk child or a severe reaction.
It really comes down to a sort of 'Sophie's choice':
1. Inoculate my kid, with the fairly remote chance that they'll have a significant reaction or maybe even die? Or,
2. Skip the inoculation and take the risk they'll get whooping cough... and maybe even die?
The really tough thing is to get reliable, non-biased data on the relative risks of the 2 options. What I can say for sure is that the more parents that refuse to immunize their kids, the higher the risk will become for contracting whooping cough for the general population.
i dont know,
i hate , loathe , and despise the self propoganding m. savage
but going home from work early one morning he had some guests on with some modicome (sp) of medical field and they claim that in the last 5 years leprosy cases in the U.S. has gone from about 5 a year to 500 a year due to immigration.
now i aint into panicing but it did raise an eyebrow.
I wouldn't be so fast to blame immigrants.
It's the whooping cranes.
What I'm puzzled about is how these children got into school? I know mine had to be immunized before they got in. Although one of mine didn't get the last booster shot(for reasons I can't remember), she did get all of those until then. And we did catch them up when she went into High School! They insisted on it! Though I can't understand why they didn't say anything about the last booster before she got in.