Why "should be more judicious in our use" of vaccines? Why would we want to have children suffer diseases when their suffering can be prevented? Here are four of the diseases vaccines protect against. I wonder which ones of these diseases Dr. Jay thinks kids should get?
"The number of measles cases reported during January 1--July 31, 2008, is the highest year-to-date since 1996. This increase was not the result of a greater number of imported cases, but was the result of greater viral transmission after importation into the United States, leading to a greater number of importation-associated cases. These importation-associated cases have occurred largely among school-aged children who were eligible for vaccination but whose parents chose not to have them vaccinated. One study has suggested an increasing number of vaccine exemptions among children who attend school in states that allow philosophical exemptions (6). In addition, home-schooled children are not covered by school-entry vaccination requirements in many states. The increase in importation-associated cases this year is a concern and might herald a larger increase in measles morbidity, especially in communities with many unvaccinated residents.
In the United States, measles caused 450 reported deaths and 4,000 cases of encephalitis annually before measles vaccine became available in the mid-1960s (1). Through a successful measles vaccination program, the United States eliminated endemic measles transmission (1). Sustaining elimination requires maintaining high MMR vaccine coverage rates, particularly among preschool (>90% 1-dose coverage) and school-aged children (>95% 2-dose coverage) (7). High coverage levels provide herd immunity, decreasing everyone's risk for measles exposure and affording protection to persons who cannot be vaccinated. However, herd immunity does not provide 100% protection, especially in communities with large numbers of unvaccinated persons. For the foreseeable future, measles importations into the United States will continue to occur because measles is still common in Europe and other regions of the world. Within the United States, the current national MMR vaccine coverage rate is adequate to prevent the sustained spread of measles. However, importations of measles likely will continue to cause outbreaks in communities that have sizeable clusters of unvaccinated persons."
"Before the mumps vaccine was introduced, mumps was a major cause of deafness in children, occurring in approximately 1 in 20,000 reported cases. Mumps is usually a mild viral disease. However, serious complications, such as inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) can occur rarely. Prior to mumps vaccine, mumps encephalitis was the leading cause of viral encephalitis in the United States, but is now rarely seen.
Serious side effects of mumps are more common among adults than children. Swelling of the testes is the most common side effect in males past the age of puberty, occurring in up to 37 percent of post-pubertal males who contract mumps. An increase in miscarriages has been found among women who develop mumps during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Before there was a vaccine against mumps, mumps was a very common disease in U.S. children, with as many as 300,000 cases reported every year. After vaccine licensure in 1967, reports of mumps decreased rapidly. In 1986 and 1987, there was a resurgence of mumps with 12,848 cases reported in 1987. Since 1989, the incidence of mumps has declined, with 266 reported cases in 2001. This recent decrease is probably due to the fact that children have received a second dose of mumps vaccine (part of the two-dose schedule for measles, mumps, rubella or MMR). Studies have shown that the effectiveness of mumps vaccine ranges from 73% to 91% after 1 dose and from 79% to 95% after 2 doses and that 2 doses are more effective than 1 dose."
"Rubella, whose name means "little red," was thought to be a type of measles until 1814, when German researchers described it as a completely different illness. From 1963-1965, a rubella epidemic swept across the globe. In the United States alone, there were about 11,000 fetal deaths and 20,000 infants born with congenital rubella syndrome, a group of birth defects that can occur in an infant when its mother is infected with rubella during pregnancy."
"Pertussis is most severe for babies; more than half of infants younger than 1 year of age who get the disease must be hospitalized. About 1 in 5 infants with pertussis get pneumonia (lung infection), and about 1 in 100 will have convulsions. In rare cases (1 in 100), pertussis can be deadly, especially in infants."
"Pertussis can lead to hospitalization, pneumonia, dehydration, weight loss, sleep disturbance, seizures, and, rarely, encephalopathy or death.1 These complications vary depending on patient age (Figure 26). Most pertussis related hospitalizations occur in the first year of life.4 Young infants are at the greatest risk of secondary bacterial pneumonia, the most common cause of pertussis-related deaths.4,7 Acute dehydration and malnutrition occur in patients with cough that limits food and fluid intake. Cerebral hypoxia from severe paroxysms1 can cause seizures and encephalopathy. Refractory pulmonary hypertension can be a late sequela in infants with pertussis.1,7"
I can understand some of the folks at Age of Autism and the like not getting the dangers. I do not, however, get how a pediatrician could wish "natural immunity" and possible death on children. I'm deeply disappointed in Gordon and I can't help but wonder how the AAP would feel about his position regarding vaccines and not safeguarding his patients.