Vaccines may have been added to the list of topics to avoid at dinner parties, but now is when we really need to discuss it with our friends and families in conversations that are both intelligent and empathetic.
I鈥檝e been drawn into this debate, partly because I鈥檓 the mother of a young child, but also partly because my brother, Seth Mnookin, is the author of The Panic Virus: The True Story of the Vaccine-Autism Controversy.
His book tracks the persistent myth that vaccines cause developmental disorders despite an overwhelming lack of scientific evidence. And while Seth received scientific awards for his extensively-researched book, not all feedback was positive. Vehement anti-vaccinators sent him scathing emails and hateful blog comments, including one in which the writer expressed the wish that he should die in the electric chair.
I studied science as an undergraduate and graduate student, yet when I became pregnant, I too found myself researching vaccines. I believe in vaccines, and I still do, but I didn鈥檛 know if my child needed them right away, or all at once.
Essayist Eula Biss also researched vaccination when she was expecting her first child. Her research led to an eloquent book entitled, On Immunity: An Inoculation, in which she concludes, 鈥淚mmunity is a shared space - a garden we tend together.鈥�
I experienced this shared space last week, when I brought my toddler to visit a friend鈥檚 newborn daughter. Too young to receive certain vaccines, this tiny infant was protected by our immunizations. My daughter could not (unknowingly) infect her.
Many parents in my Brattleboro community have chosen to vaccinate selectively, or not at all. Mostly, these parents have thought carefully about their choices and believe they鈥檙e doing what鈥檚 best for their children. Reasons range from distrust of corporate science to a general fear of toxins, from perceived corruption within pharmaceutical companies to government conspiracy theories.
Under current Vermont law, parents can cite religious, medical or philosophical reasons to exempt their children from any of the five required vaccines, which together provide immunity from nine infectious diseases. Parents use these exemptions, and Vermont has one of the highest rates of non-medical exemptions in the country.
I still support current proposed legislation to eliminate philosophical exemptions; this could grow our 鈥渉erd鈥� immunity. But legislation isn鈥檛 enough.
We must relearn how to talk to each other with compassion and to consider the broader impact of our decisions, as well as what it means to live not as individuals, but in community with one another.
