Credit: Mother Jones

Okay, the fluoride debacle was one thing. So far as rejection of science goes, it could be worse. Like, say, leading the country in not vaccinating your children.

Oh, wait.

vaccine_rateBystate-UPD-01.png

This post over at Mother Jones highlights how and why American children aren’t being vaccinated. Of course, there’s large elements of Jenny McCarthyism at work, but some researchers think kids aren’t getting their shots for an even shittier reason: Some parents just don’t want to bother taking time out of their busy schedule to make sure their kid doesn’t get sick. And indulging that level of “fuck it” is made easy by how simple it is to opt out of immunizing your children.

The full article details the steps some states (not Oregon) are taking to reduce this health risk. Hopefully legislators in the region are paying attention.

Bobby Roberts is one of the Portland Mercury's calendar editors, as well as one of its film and pop-culture critics. His past career choices included joining corporate broadcast radio just in time for...

5 replies on “This Might Be Why Your Kid is Home Sick All the Damn Time”

  1. I bet certain parts of Oregon including Portland also rank very high in per capita intravenous drug abuse.

    Not that the same demographics are responsible for the statistics but an interesting and ironic contrast of coexisting populations.

    Say no to MMR or DPT but pass the crystal meth and heroin right over.

  2. (Sorry, this is what I meant) How can your children be sick all the time with diseases that are vaccinated for if your child, being vaccinated, should not be affected.

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