Canada has issued a travel health notice to Canadians traveling to California on account of a dramatic increase in cases of whooping cough among children.
Dr. Val Jones warns: “An increasing number of parents are opting out of vaccines, a trend that could threaten to reverse the preventive health gains we’ve made against certain infectious diseases this past century. How scary is that?”
Very scary.
Dr. Joseph Albietz notes that physicians are losing the war of public opinion on the issue of child vaccinations.
“However, the fact remains that no matter how strong the science may be, how large and uniform the expert consensus, how eloquent the argument, people are far more likely to be swayed by the opinion of a trusted friend, the actions of their peers, or the words of a celebrity, and we are fools to ignore that fact.* Sometimes different approaches are required.”
Dr. Albietz offers some sound ideas on how physicians can counteract the anti-vaccine movement. Read his full piece here.
