Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who is chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said that he did have “concerns” that some children might die of measles or become paralyzed with polio as a result of a choice not to vaccinate. But, he said, “I also am saddened when people die of alcoholic diseases,” adding, “Freedom of choice and bad health outcomes.”
In the case of an infectious disease, a personal choice to decline a vaccine may also affect others …. But a person’s right to reject a vaccine supersedes those risks, Dr. Milhoan said.
The polio and measles vaccines are widely acknowledged as staggering successes in public health, credited with preventing disability and millions of deaths worldwide.
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“It’s very frustrating for those of us who spend our careers trying to do what we can to improve the health of children to see harm coming to children because of an ideological agenda not grounded in science,” [said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the infectious disease committee at the American Academy of Pediatrics.]
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