Vaccination recommendation

I have written several times about vaccines and how vaccines work. Most of us in medicine consider development of vaccines the most beneficial and effective therapy ever developed to protect human health. Yes. it's that important. The number of lives saved and human misery prevented surely exceeds that provided by all other modern medicines, including antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs. I have posted the numbers before, but in case you didn't notice:

Comparison of pre-vaccine era estimated annual morbidity with current estimate

So every year in the US, we prevent over 5 million people from being infected, and have eliminated smallpox, diphtheria and paralytic polio. It's clear how important vaccinations are.

Unfortunately the vaccine debate has been politicized in the past several years. This has resulted in unfavorable trends in healthcare:

• The dissemination of thoroughly discredited information about vaccines causing autism in children (they do not)

• The appointment of unqualified individuals with a known antivaccine agenda to essential posts in our government, who are disrupting the public health policies we will need to stay healthy

• State officials who are enhancing their libertarian reputation by using opposition to sane & well-established childhood vaccine policies

• Mishandled childhood illness outbreaks resulting from unvaccinated children and parental neglect

Vaccine policy is not political, it is medical. The experts are the public health officials and physicians who have served us for years. Everyone else: Take your hands off our health!