Hit Me With Your Best Shot

I shouldn't be afraid to vaccinate my child, but when my daughter received her infamous one-year shots, I was. Thanks to celebrities like Jenny McCarthy (who insists that her son's autism was caused by his immunizations) and uber-crunchy, hippy moms who breastfeed their kids into high school (and therefore certainly don't vaccinate), vaccinations nation-wide are on the decline. Between last January and June, there were 131 reported cased of measles in the U.S., the highest number in 12 years. The fear-mongering, it seems, has trickled down from the highest levels of government to big-breasted celebrities. As if I don't feel guilty enough for what I do or don't do as a mother (go to work? you're neglectful...give your kid juice? you're setting her up for obesity and type 2 diabetes), now I have to hear about how every other celeb mom feels about vaccinating, as if being a celebrity and having a medical degree are mutually exclusive. I don't doubt that vaccinations can possibly instigate problems in some kids who are already predisposed to them, but to say that vaccines cause autism is dangerous and unfair. Besides, we seem to be missing the larger picture: a child with autism can live and thrive; a child with the measles (or mumps or small pox) very well may die. Personally, I'd rather have a child with autism than to say I had one that died from the measles.