When we see a report of a child slowly dying of polio or measles, we assume that this took place in the 1940s. However, thanks to the dangerous anti-vax movement, children have become ill with outdated diseases that were on the verge of extinction. 

Unfortunately, parents who are against vaccinations are no longer the odd conspiracy theorists with aluminum foil hats. They are everyday people living around us and putting everyone at risk. With celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Kat Von D supporting an anti-vax lifestyle, this alarming ideology has become mainstream.  

McCarthy, a former Playboy model, claims that vaccinations gave her son autism. However, after multiple medical studies, that have been ongoing since 1998, there has been no link found to vaccinations and autism. 

While avoiding vaccinations out of a fear of an autism diagnosis is fatal on its own, this is setting back research for autism. It has been proven countless times that vaccinations are not the cause of autism, so why can that answer not be accepted and research can move onto other possible links. It is also immensely selfish to rather run the risk of your child dying of yellow fever than have a child who was diagnosed with autism. 

Many people against vaccinations argue that there is no need for vaccinations to be administered for diseases that are no longer prevalent. However, in countries like Nigeria and Afghanistan, polio is still prevalent due to a lack of vaccinations in that country. While polio has no cure and children are the most susceptible, vaccines make it preventable and manageable. 

Another argument anti-vaxxers have is because other people are already vaccinated, there is no need for their children to be vaccinated against a disease that no one will contract. This argument goes against the tested and proven ‘herd immunity’ theory. The theory states that when everyone in a community is vaccinated, there is nowhere for the disease to spread to and it will eventually die out. With the rise of anti-vaxxers, herd immunity will no longer be as effective.

In March of 2017, there was an outbreak of rotavirus in California. This virus causes severe diarrhea in young children, which leads to dehydration and death. The CDC reported that only 27% of the children affected by this outbreak were vaccinated. The vaccine for this disease was introduced in the United States in 2006. The suffering and pain these children endured could have been entirely avoided. The parents should have been charged with child neglect for their lack concern over their children’s health. 

Hopefully those who choose to live an anti-vax lifestyle will learn the benefits of vaccinations before their children fall ill of an entirely preventable disease.