# Should non-vaccinating parents be held liable for disease transmitted by their child?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-non-vaccinating-parents-be-held-liable-for-disease-transmitted-by-their-child/711297>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 30, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-non-vaccinating-parents-be-held-liable-for-disease-transmitted-by-their-child/711297 "2015-01-30T01:57:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-non-vaccinating-parents-be-held-liable-for-disease-transmitted-by-their-child/711297/121 "2015-03-16T02:51:20Z")

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> [@Sitnam](#):
>
> I certainly accept that the medical community knows what they’re doing. But just in case a parent had reservations about three vaccines given all at once, is there an alternative to an MMR so you can get one at a time over a few weeks?

You can space out each vaccine if you want. Some places will give a separate vaccine for all three diseases. However, this is a foolish idea for multiple reasons. Firstly, it does not reduce the risk of a vaccine reaction. You’re actually increasing a child’s exposure to the minute amount of chemicals in each vaccine as you are giving three vaccines rather than one and therefore three times as many chemicals. Secondly, you are forcing your poor kid to get three needle sticks rather than one. Thirdly, you are also potentially increasing the need to get three doctor’s visits. As three shots are generally given in order to provide maximum protection, this actually means NINE shots rather than three.

So you can do it. But you really shouldn’t. You could, of course, aim to get measles, mumps and rubella but that would be even more foolish and far riskier.

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-non-vaccinating-parents-be-held-liable-for-disease-transmitted-by-their-child/711297/122 "2015-03-16T04:07:20Z")

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> [@Sitnam](#):
>
> I certainly accept that the medical community knows what they’re doing. But just in case a parent had reservations about three vaccines given all at once, is there an alternative to an MMR so you can get one at a time over a few weeks?

Babies can respond to an immense number of antigens, which they do from the moment of birth. From [this site:](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/109/1/124.full)

> [@](#):
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> Studies on the diversity of antigen receptors indicate that the immune system has the capacity to respond to extremely large numbers of antigens. Current data suggest that the theoretical capacity determined by diversity of antibody variable gene regions would allow for as many as 1,000,000,000 to 100,000,000,000 different antibody specificities.

The best vaccination schedule is the recommended one. The vaccines are barely a drop in the bucket for what a baby and child’s immune system is capable of handling.

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