In the United States, some parents have become very concerned over vaccinating their children. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Public Welfare requires that preschool children attending regulated child care programs have up to date immunizations. Kindergarten children are also required to have immunizations prior to entering school. As a former child care director, I can remember more than one concerned parent who, for whatever reason, did not what their child immunized. I always found this somewhat ironic because in an effort to protect their child from what they might consider "unnecessary" shots, they were actually putting them at risk of a life threatening disease. Diseases that immunizations are designed to protect them against. I recently found information about immunizations in Europe and not was not surprised that many of their immunizations are similar to the United States. Like in the United States, immunizations in Europe have dramatically reduced many preventable diseases. However, they have also seen outbreaks of measles and polio due to an unimmunized population. As for my children, I have always followed the American Academy of Pediatrics immunization schedule because I can not imagine taking the risk exposing my children to life threatening or life altering diseases that are completely preventable.
References
What Recent Measles and Rubella Outbreaks in Europe Can Teach the U.S. (2012, July 2) Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gerganakoleva/2012/07/02/what-recent-measles-and-rubella-outbreaks-in-europe-can-teach-the-u-s/
Terri, you have a different spin on immunizations than the previous one I read. As I asked her, does Japan deal with the issue of vaccinations causing autism as we do here in the states?
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