http://www.physorg.com/news124541093.html
There's a worrying fad for anti-vaccination thinking just now, mainly based on specious evidencial claims and suspicion of the pharmaceutical industry. The most high profile example would be the MMR scandal, in which the mainstream press (particularly the Daily Mail and its ilk) jumped on a massively flawed study linking the vaccine with autism, yet were oddly silent about the enormous numbers of discreditations the study recieved.
We now have the highest number of measles cases since records began, and they're still increasing year on year.
Anyway, Belgium has jailed and fined two sets of parents for five months each for refusing to give their children the polio vaccine.
This is a tough one. On one hand, the parents may be basing their decision on spurious information but, I imagine, it's only because they want the best for their children and doing nothing and risking polio probably seems more sensible than exposing them to something they feel may be dangerous.
On the other hand, a hard line has to be taken if we don't want to see the return of these horrible diseases, and the reassurances of those who work in the field do little to calm the fears of the anti-vac crowd because they immediately treat scientists with suspicion, as if they have an agenda.
Thoughts?
