# Danger from the unvaccinated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867 "2012-03-05T23:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867/21 "2012-03-08T05:31:08Z")
Washington State you just fill out a form saying you have reasons for not vaccinating or somesuch. I know because I did it 18 months ago. (Not because I’m anti vac, but because we had just moved here from China, wait times for pediatricians were weeks after school started, and while the kiddos were more or less up to date with their vac, the records were all in Chinese and some of the shots had different names. So, I filled out the form so they could start school. We got caught up in proper US fashion soon thereafter.) ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867/22 "2012-03-08T05:38:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No, _your_ beliefs should not be able to endanger other peoples kids. No religous exemptions should be allowed. Perhaps my feelings are based on the circumstances rather than on a fully fleshed out moral stance, but I don’t think it’s Christian Scientists swelling the ranks of the unvaccinated and causing the problem, and so I don’t see the need for this policy. The problem is people who are under the impression that SCIENCE backs their opposition to vaccines, and therefore falsely claim to have a religious objection. They are both ignorant and liars. ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867/23 "2012-03-08T12:13:11Z")
You could always get one of those “Stop! DO NOT TOUCH the baby” signs I’ve seen online and in person hanging from the handle of an infant carrier recently. People were seriously weirded out by this…“Wait…you mean I CAN"T randomly fondle your child’s feet/hands/squooshy little cutiepattootie cheeks? THAT"S UN’MERIKAN!”. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867/24 "2012-03-08T21:13:57Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > As the mother of a newborn, non-vaccinators (sp? That doesn’t look right.) piss me right off. Littlest Miss is too young for vaccines, and people are too touchy - especially well-meaning old ladies and little children - so I’m following doctor’s orders to “be a hermit for the next month,” be cautious about the big kids’ when they come home from school (wash hands, change shirts before they play with the baby,) et cetera. I also had to bully my mom into getting a DTP booster, since pertussis in adults is pretty much indistinguishable from the non- productive cough she gets every spring. (Plus Mom visits Grandmother at the nursing home daily. She can easily catch or transmit whooping cough there.) Even my mother, who is normally a somewhat reasonable and perfectly intelligent adult, had to be coerced - “either get the damned shot or wait to see the baby after she has hers.” I’m not a fan of a nanny state, but I would be in complete favor of a law requiring vaccines for all but the medically exempt. If we can require seat belts and bike helmets for the common weal, why not innoculations? Vaccines save lives. Period. (Yes, I know there are extremely rare adverse reactions. My child will take that chance, because I’d rather take the modest risk of a bad reaction versus the real risk of serious risks from measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, tetanus, diptheria, chicken pox, etc.) I prefer anti-vaccine crazies myself. I’m just counting down the days until \*\*Lavenderbabe \*\*can get her MMR shot. Less than two months from now thankfully. Good for you for asking your mom to get her updated shots. I did that with my parents. But they’ve both been through the pre-polio era so they didn’t dare argue. You can nurse a baby but it will only provide antibodies for about six months. I wouldn’t worry about vaccine reactions all that much. My eldest had one at two months. Scary minutes of high pitched crying but she managed to score in the 99th percentile on state math tests and dreams of being a vet so I suppose she’s okay. In many states you have to vaccinate or homeschool. I have no real problem with this law. There should medical exemptions and medical exemptions only. I don’t wanna or I read bullshit on the net really shouldn’t exempt you from public health obligations. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867/25 "2012-03-08T22:16:28Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > You can nurse a baby but it will only provide antibodies for about six months. I wouldn’t worry about vaccine reactions all that much. My eldest had one at two months. Scary minutes of high pitched crying but she managed to score in the 99th percentile on state math tests and dreams of being a vet so I suppose she’s okay. Yep, I’m nursing exclusively (and successfully, I might add - went for a weigh-in today to make sure that Baby had regained her post-birth loss. In the 13 days since her last weighing, Michelle has gained 11 oz., or almost 10%! of her body weight. Woohoo! And I’m only one size above my “usual” weight 2.5 weeks after childbirth - double woohoo!) All of my older kids have been vaccinated. Two in university on full academic scholarships, two in grade school who have never missed high honor roll, and a 23-month-old using 4- and 5-word sentences. I guess they did okay! [/stealth brag 🆒] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danger-from-the-unvaccinated/614867.md?page=1)