# Anti-vaxxers are ignorant scumbags that kill children **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626 "2016-09-01T01:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/41 "2016-09-02T04:22:04Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > And I don’t know if there are any studies about safety issues of cramming lots of vaccines in a short period of time, but if there aren’t, there should be. Why don’t you know? Do you have an internet connection by any chance? You’re more interesting in whining about the draft than in shutting the window, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/42 "2016-09-02T04:27:09Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > I’ll be attacked, but that’s OK. I believe in getting all the needed vaccines, but I don’t believe its healthy to get them all in a brief period of time. I think they should be spaces out more. I hear the reason they don’t do this is not because they are trying to protect the child as quickly as possible, but they think parents are more likely to get them all if its only a few trips to the doctor. Don’t think the human immune system evolved to produce 5 different antibodies in 1 day. Uh, evolution has done that and more. > **[6 Dangerous Anti-Vaccination Arguments That Need To Be Shut Down](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-vaccine-arguments-analyzed-explained_n_6607026)** > > 6 Dangerous Anti-Vaccination Arguments That Need To Be Shut Down > [@](#): > > Bad argument #5: Vaccines can “overload” a child’s immune system. That’s simply not true. From the moment babies are born, they’re exposed to all sorts of illness-causing viruses. So most doctors — and even the CDC and the Institute of Medicine — agree that a child’s immune system can handle the immune-stimulating antigens in multiple vaccines. In fact, as San Francisco-based pediatrician Dr. Laurel Schultz wrote in a recent article, children are exposed to more antigens in the environment every day than to those in all of their vaccinations combined. ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/43 "2016-09-02T04:35:28Z")
There you go. I get my kids vaccinated. It takes 2 years longer. Not good enough. Your way or the highway. Got to toe the line. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/44 "2016-09-02T04:37:50Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > There you go. I get my kids vaccinated. It takes 2 years longer. Not good enough. Your way or the highway. Got to toe the line. I did not mention anything about your choice, but thank you for showing all that you are proud of not being willing to learn anything that can shake your faith. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/45 "2016-09-02T04:38:06Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > There you go. I get my kids vaccinated. It takes 2 years longer. Not good enough. Your way or the highway. Got to toe the line. There’s no problem with what you’re doing in my opinion, but do you have any evidence that you are getting any benefit from paying the extra and doing it this way? I’d be genuinely interested in reading papers showing more side effects from combined vaccines if you have any. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/46 "2016-09-02T04:39:10Z")
Do you quarantine them for two years? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/47 "2016-09-02T05:01:17Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > There you go. I get my kids vaccinated. It takes 2 years longer. Not good enough. Your way or the highway. Got to toe the line. Oh I see, you’re Fighting the Man. How noble. You exposed your own children to risk of serious disease, you exposed the children who had contact with your children to risk of serious disease, and you achieved nothing of practical value. But you sure showed those assholes who recommended to you a good and effective way to protect your family and friends! You made it clear who’s boss! What a fuckin’ hero. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/48 "2016-09-02T05:01:42Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > Do you quarantine them for two years? Let’s not be facetious, in western developed countries the incidence of deadly diseases is pretty low. Statistically it’s very likely herd immunity will protect them over the two year period. Just as long as they do eventually get vaccinated it seems harmless to me. A waste of time and money, but harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/49 "2016-09-02T05:13:25Z")
Yeah, let’s all do that. Oh, wait. Then it won’t work. OK, let’s just give Special Snowflakes a pass. The rest of us will do the heavy lifting while they show what admirable rebels they are by not toeing the line. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/50 "2016-09-02T05:34:30Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Yeah, let’s all do that. Oh, wait. Then it won’t work. You’re really grasping at straws here. If everybody spread out infant immunisations over a longer period it would still work, because they’d still get herd immunity from the rest of the population over 2 years old which is 98% of people. And anyway they’re not giving them no vaccinations for two years, they can give the most at risk ones first, then others every 2 months or every month. It would cost more money, and there’s no evidence that it has any benefit, and it might lead to small increase in some diseases but not a huge epidemic. There’s plenty of genuine reasons to fight anti-vaxxers but personally I’m willing to let this one slide. Pick your battles. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/51 "2016-09-02T05:40:27Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > You’re really grasping at straws here. If everybody spread out infant immunisations over a longer period it would still work, because they’d still get herd immunity from the rest of the population over 2 years old which is 98% of people. And anyway they’re not giving them no vaccinations for two years, they can give the most at risk ones first, then others every 2 months or every month. It would cost more money, and there’s no evidence that it has any benefit, and it might lead to small increase in some diseases but not a huge epidemic. > > There’s plenty of genuine reasons to fight anti-vaxxers but personally I’m willing to let this one slide. Pick your battles. :dubious: > **[Delaying Vaccines Increases Risks--with No Added Benefits](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/delaying-vaccines-increases-risks-with-no-added-benefits/)** > > Some parents delay vaccines out of a misinformed belief that it’s safer, but that decision actually increases the risk of a seizure after vaccination and leaves children at risk for disease longer > [@](#): > > Concerns about vaccine safety have led up to 40 percent of parents in the U.S. to delay or refuse some vaccines for their children in hopes of avoiding rare reactions. Barriers to health care access can also cause immunization delays. But delaying some vaccines, in addition to leaving children unprotected from disease longer, can actually increase the risk of fever-related seizures, according to a new study. > > The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually updates its recommended childhood immunization schedule, the only schedule endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical organizations. Following the CDC guidelines means children may get as many as five vaccines at one visit. But some parents space out vaccines, leading to delays in shots such as the first measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) dose, recommended when a child is between 12 and 15 months old. > > The new study, published in the May 19 Pediatrics, found that administering the MMR shot or the less frequently used MMRV one (which includes the varicella, or chickenpox, vaccine) later, between 16 and 23 months, doubles the child’s risk of developing a fever-caused, or febrile, seizure as a reaction to the vaccine. The risk of a febrile seizure following the MMR is approximately one case in 3,000 doses for children aged 12 to 15 months but one case in 1,500 doses for children aged 16 to 23 months “This study adds to the evidence that the best way to prevent disease and minimize side effects from vaccines is to vaccinate on the recommended schedule,” says Simon Hambidge, lead author of the study and the director of general pediatrics at Denver Health. Otherwise, he says, an undervaccinated child is left at risk of infectious disease for a longer period. “Delaying also makes for increased visits to the doctor’s office,” he says, “along with the time and hassle and risk of exposure to other infectious diseases in the doctor’s office.” Hambidge’s previous research found that pediatric office visits might increase the risk of gastrointestinal illness (symptoms then potentially misinterpreted as a vaccine reaction). > > It’s not clear why the MMR and MMRV vaccines increase febrile seizure risk in the older children, but it may be simply that they receive the vaccines when they are already more susceptible to the seizures. Hambidge says evidence shows the immune system may still be maturing during the second year of life, and febrile seizures caused by viruses naturally peak around 16 to 18 months. Vaccines administered during this interval may increase the risk of fever, and therefore febrile seizures, because the vaccines rev up the immune system to mount a better immune response. These seizures do not cause any long-term health effects. “Even though they’re scary for parents, these seizures are temporary events. They don’t recur and don’t cause epilepsy,” Hambidge says. If it was indeed just a few I would let this one slide, but there is little to justify the delay tactic and paradoxically it increases the risks on older kids. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/52 "2016-09-02T05:47:45Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > If it was indeed just a few I would let this one slide, but there is little to justify the delay tactic and paradoxically it increases the risks on older kids. Ok ignorance fought, I did not know this, thanks for the link. And here is a link on a study of safety of combined vaccines which I’m sure Vicsage will read because he’s a reasonable person who accepts evidence when presented right? > **[Safety of combination vaccines: perception versus reality - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11704723/)** > > Children will benefit from new combination vaccines because fewer injections will be required to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases, allowing for the introduction of new vaccines into the immunization schedule and prevention of additional... Whoops only the abstract is available for that one. Here’s one you can read the full text: > **[The value of childhood combination vaccines: From beliefs to evidence](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635899/)** > > Although vaccination is one of the most cost-effective health care interventions, under-vaccination and variation in coverage rates lower than policy targets is rising in developed countries, partly due to concerns about vaccination value and... ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/53 "2016-09-02T05:55:39Z")
Incidentally, there’s just been a [reported mumps outbreak](http://www.thv11.com/news/local/mumps-outbreak-reported-in-nw-arkansas/311911721) in NW Arkansas. Unvaccinated children in affected schools are being told to stay home for about a month to limit the spread of disease. Shame we don’t have an effective medicine that might prevent mumps. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/54 "2016-09-02T08:05:56Z")
We got a live one! One of the anti-vaxxers came back to the facebook thread. This time she’s spouting nonsense that “there is no scientific data to show a raised antibody response confers immunity to the disease”. This is such basic biology that’s been known for over 100 years. It’s not studied because it’s known beyond all doubt. I sent her the history of Cowpox , how it became the smallpox vaccine. I have no hope she’ll actually learn, but at least she can’t claim “big pharma” was behind that one ! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/55 "2016-09-02T08:30:51Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > The “I’m not anti-vax, I just think it’s too much at one time” thing is a position that started to come out after it started to become clear - post-Wakefield takedown - that the basic anti-vax position was BS. That’s not correct. I heard that opinion expressed pretty much the day after Wakefield came to public attention. People suddenly started asking for the vaccines separately and were refused by the doctors and it made the press. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/56 "2016-09-02T08:32:37Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > If everybody spread out infant immunisations over a longer period it would still work, because they’d still get herd immunity from the rest of the population over 2 years old which is 98% of people. It’s worse than this probably. People don’t mix evenly. People with young families mix mostly with other people with young families. People with odd anti-vax ideas mix with people with similar ideas. I don’t know how it would work out but the danger to herd immunity would be way worse than if it was all a completely well mixed distribution. Also, as you say, there’s no up side to this nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/57 "2016-09-02T08:41:41Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > That’s not correct. I heard that opinion expressed pretty much the day after Wakefield came to public attention. People suddenly started asking for the vaccines separately and were refused by the doctors and it made the press. Sort of. Firstly I think the idea has grown. There may have been some saying that the problem was somehow overwhelming the child’s immune system with multiple vaccines. But the emphasis was on the MMR/autism link, and the reason for asking for them separately (insofar as there ever was any reason that made sense) was the idea that the MMR vaccine was inherently dangerous per se. Then the evidence that Wakefield’s study was BS came out, and the message changed subtly to an emphasis on a more ephemeral claim that having vaccines close together was dangerous in some unspecified way. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/58 "2016-09-02T09:38:38Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I used to think that vaccines could, very rarely, in vulnerable people, cause a form of regressive retardation with seizures, because I have worked with people who carried a “vaccine-injured” diagnosis (from the DTP shot-- in fact, it’s the reason it was changed to DTaP), and one even got an award from the vaccine injury fund. That aside - people concerned about a rare effect like an isolated seizure should read up on [measles encephalitis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subacute_sclerosing_panencephalitis), which used to be universally lethal. There’s some treatment available these days, but honestly, a transient fever or even a febrile seizure (which happens in kids outside of vaccination), which are rare complications, is far, far better than what measles can do. My parents knew schoolmates who spent a couple years dying of measles complications. Yep, we kids all got vaccinated. All vaccines have a small chance of complications. The diseases they prevent have much higher rates of complication, maiming, and death. Maybe one of the things that pisses me off about anti-vaxxers is that almost all of them are my generation or younger, they had the benefits of vaccines because _their_ parents remembered friends and neighbors dying of now-preventable illness. But they deny those protections to their kids, and their larger society. It’s despicable, not in the least because it’s _other people_ who suffer and might even be maimed or killed by their stupidity and ignorance. > [@Vicsage](#): > > I’ll be attacked, but that’s OK. I believe in getting all the needed vaccines, but I don’t believe its healthy to get them all in a brief period of time. I think they should be spaces out more. I hear the reason they don’t do this is not because they are trying to protect the child as quickly as possible, but they think parents are more likely to get them all if its only a few trips to the doctor. Yes, there’s a cost-benefit analysis going on there. Ideally, the kids should be tested periodically to make sure their immunity is still strong and the vaccines “took”, and if they didn’t, they should be re-vaccinated. _Adults_ should be re-vaccinated and given boosters periodically throughout life as well but we really fail at that as a society. Well, tetanus boosters, which are now usually combined with diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) boosters but adults aren’t reliable at getting that (outside of certain weirdos such as myself) I think you’re overly concerned (absent an actual medical problem in your kids) but as long as they’re vaccinated before going off to first grade the hazard is probably minimal in a First World nation, or even in the US (which in my opinion does not have a First World level of public health) but if you take them on a trip to somewhere a little less advanced I’d get them all caught up on the vaccines pronto. > [@Vicsage](#): > > Don’t think the human immune system evolved to produce 5 different antibodies in 1 day. Yeah, actually the human immune system DID evolve to cope with a LOT more than a mere 5 different antibodies a day. It does such a good job we’re not even aware of how many pathogens the body fights off daily with nary a symptom - until we have to suppress a person’s immune system for something like a bone transplant. > [@Vicsage](#): > > Being called “not screamingly irrational” is one of the nicest things I’ve been called. Just speculation, although I had a dog once get some sort of auto-immune disease shortly after being given a large # of vaccines. Dog recovered, but the Vet suggested spacing them the next time and not giving him ones that were he was unlikely to need. Until you know for sure a little caution with no risk isn’t always a bad idea. My family is lousy with auto-immune disorders. We still all get vaccinated. I think your vet was being cautious, but honestly, if your kids had that sort of a problem you’d know by now. It’s not that the vaccines are causing an auto-immune disorder, it’s far more likely the disorder has been there all along and makes a reaction to a vaccine more likely. > [@Princhester](#): > > OK, let’s just give Special Snowflakes a pass. The rest of us will do the heavy lifting while they show what admirable rebels they are by not toeing the line. Like I said, if they’re getting their vaccinations by first grade it’s probably OK. Personally, I have more concern about kids who get moved around a lot, in foster care (where records get lost and trying to get regular care and follow-up scheduled would be a nightmare), living in homeless shelters, they’re the ones at higher risk. Whenever I hear about anti-vaxxers going on and on about very rare complications, or complications disproven I consider my parents who made the decision to vaccinate me against smallpox (because that was still a thing back when I was a baby) despite my impressive collection of allergies and perennial eczema. They don’t even allow people with a _history_ of eczema to get smallpox vaccine anymore, much less a baby with an active case due the hazard of [eczema vaccinatum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eczema_vaccinatum). Again, these days there are treatments but back when I was a baby it was likely to be fatal. Nonetheless, I have that distinctive vaccination scare on my upper left arm. Now, obviously (because I’m here) that didn’t happen, but as recently as 50-60 years ago choosing to vaccinate a kid with a higher than normal risk of side effects, even _lethal_ side effects, was seen as a sane choice by middle-class parents. But then, my parents were old enough to remember the news accounts of the last smallpox outbreak in the US (they weren’t affected by it, but did hear of it). What killed smallpox? _Vaccines and herd immunity_. But hey, the anti-vaxxers don’t want to hear about that. If ever there is an outbreak of smallpox will they keep their opinions that vaccines are bad, or are they willing to see 1/3 of their kids die? (Or more - depends on the strain involved. Might 40% or 60%). Of course, if there ever IS an outbreak of smallpox there will be quarantines imposed until everyone inside is either recovered, vaccinated and immune, _or dead_. Based on history, that would mean about a third of those inside will die (unless they they’ve been vaccinated in the past 10 years, which no longer applies to most of us). But, hey, _we don’t have to worry about that because of vaccines_. Unfortunately, I do have an allergy to common vaccine but I get all of them that I can get safely. I didn’t just throw up my hands and say “well, that trip to the ER was freakin’ scary, guess I better not ever get another vaccine, ever”, because getting sick just plain sucks and can be just as dangerous (is usually MORE dangerous) than getting a vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/59 "2016-09-02T10:22:30Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > {…} I sent her the history of Cowpox , how it became the smallpox vaccine. I have no hope she’ll actually learn, but at least she can’t claim “big pharma” was behind that one ! 'Course not, that was “big farma”! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/60 "2016-09-02T10:41:23Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I like my idea better. No government funded schooling, no travelling on public transport no universal healthcare (in countries that have it). In Spain you can lose custody of your children if you refuse to get them the required vaccinations. If a child can’t have them for a medical reason that goes to their medical history, but the only acceptable reasons are medical ones. Other than that, the few unvaccinated people we have are almost 100% immigrants (there are occasional pockets of very low-income-level people who haven’t registered the kids or ever taken them to a doctor out of a general “don’t trust the man” mindset; when these are detected, doctors are taken to them). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=4)