Vaccinations: The Ongoing Debate

There has been an ongoing debate for quite a while over one question: should people be vaccinating their children. Now, this may seem like a strange question, but it's safe to say the answer is more or less obvious.

The primary vaccination in question is the measles vaccination. Who argues the pro? Well, the people insisting on getting vaccinated are doctors, scientists, and medical personnel. The con is argued by naturalists and conspiracy theorists.

President Obama commented on the matter recently during an NBC interview:

"There is every reason to get vaccinated - There is no reason not to. [...] I just want people to know the science and information here. And the fact is that a major success of our civilization is our ability to prevent disease that in the past have devastated folks. And measles is preventable."

The fact is that these beliefs that vaccinations are dangerous (or, at least, more so than the actual disease) are (relatively) unsound. As a matter of fact, the disease was all but entirely wiped out by the vaccination in 2000.

The Center for Disease Control has recently advised that an unprecedented change in people not being vaccinated could lead to an uncontrollable outbreak of the measles.

So you really should get your children, or yourself, vaccinated. Although it may go against your personal beliefs (which would be unsound regardless), not getting your kids vaccinated is dangerous and selfish.

That's all I have to say today, but I'll be back tomorrow.

"A reader lives a thousand lives. A man who never reads lives only one." -George R. R. Martin