How a meeting between President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. puts lives at risk.

It is clear that the anti-vaccine movement is born out of concern for children and their well-being, and I sympathize with the fear and uncertainty of parents. I do not, however, sympathize with President Trump’s decision to meet with the out-spoken vaccine critic Mr. Robert. F. Kennedy Jr., or his reported decision to have Mr. Kennedy chair a commission investigating the safety and efficacy of vaccines. It is not merely clumsy — children will ultimately suffer for it. To ensure that children are vaccinated on a proper schedule is already a challenge in and of itself. As vaccination becomes more challenging, more children will ultimately go unvaccinated. Since vaccination prevents disease, having more unvaccinated children means more children will get sick. Unfortunately, the illnesses that are prevented by vaccines such as the MMR vaccine — measles, mumps, and rubella — are no small problem. Measles is a terrible sickness that can lead to deafness, blindness, inflammation of the brain, or even death. Mumps, similarly, can cause permanent deafness, inflammation of the covering of the brain, and death. These diseases and their consequences are easy to overlook and underestimate because they have been so far removed from our recent lives. This, of course, is a direct result of vaccines, and what is at stake in the fight for vaccination. Giving the anti-vaccine position any credence at all makes vaccinating children more challenging than it already is. This l...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Medications Pediatrics Source Type: blogs