Unvaccinated Children May Not Be Seen By Pediatricians
For experts, it is very important to prevent epidemics in children, which is why vaccines are mandatory. However, many parents declared themselves “anti-vaccine” stating that the medicine is worse than the disease.
Anyway, specific actions were considered because of the importance of this preventive procedure. For this reason, the American Academy of Pediatrics has decided to support pediatricians who refuse to see children who have not been vaccinated. Experts decided to adhere to this type of position because without vaccines children are exposed to many risks.
For most people, vaccines are very important because they are used to prevent serious or potentially fatal illnesses. Good vaccine control leads to a good evaluation in pediatric consultations. Also, making sure the child is healthy is very important to parents.
Taking this into account, it is good to be informed about the advantages of taking vaccines. In a society like ours, which lives in constant movement, prevention is very important. Even parents who are afraid to vaccinate their children for fear of possible side effects have chosen this option. However, they have no guarantee that the spread of serious illnesses cannot occur.
Another risk for unvaccinated children
Each year, the number of parents who do not vaccinate their children increases. For this reason, a series of measures that were somewhat controversial, but officially accepted, were taken. Although the risk of not vaccinating children is the parents’ responsibility, this decision also exposes other children. Experts believe that anti-vaccine parents could be responsible for childhood epidemics.
In addition to the risk of these children being infected with preventable diseases, they also face another threat. In order to educate parents about vaccines, pediatricians are approved not to see them in their appointments. Some time ago, Australia had barred these families from receiving tax breaks as a measure of pressure.
Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics supports the measure of not serving unvaccinated children after their parents have already been instructed. That is , it is an attempt to make reluctant parents aware. If they do not assume this responsibility, their children will be omitted from the social health program.
It is worth noting that it is very dangerous for a pediatrician to see a child who has not been vaccinated. It is a great risk for both the doctor and the child who is not immunized. In addition, it also puts other children who will attend the same office at risk.
Some babies have not been vaccinated for various reasons that are unrelated to the parents’ refusal. They are at risk of becoming infected with a disease from lack of immunization even if it was not a deliberate decision. It is important that parents clarify all doubts before taking the initiative not to vaccinate their children.
Why are there so many unvaccinated children?
In the United States, 75% of parents believe that vaccines are not important. In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published an article in The Lancet magazine disparaging the use of vaccines. This article talked about an alleged exposure to autistic disorder due to the MMR vaccine. After such a statement, it was not difficult to see why many parents were concerned about the situation and why they decided not to vaccinate their children anymore.
Over the years, this article has been disproved by a survey that revealed the falsehood of Andrew’s ad. Although this led to the end of this doctor’s career, it left consequences in public opinion. There is still an attempt to convince parents to change their minds through expert advice. The Spanish Association of Pediatrics says that it prefers to make people aware rather than intimidate, and that is why it created the Advisory Committee on Vaccines and made it available to the population.
