Letter to the Editor: Open Letter To Honorable Deborah Armstrong

By MICHAEL L. ADAMS
Los Alamos
 
Open Letter to Honorable Deborah Armstrong.

I’m writing to express my support for your idea of ending personal belief exemptions for vaccinations against preventable diseases.

An examination of data on deaths resulting from preventable diseases in developing countries clearly indicates that outbreaks of preventable diseases are a serious public health concern and result in large quantities of human deaths.

I still remember my grandmother describing how frightening polio was, and how the vaccination was such a “Gift from above.”

Leaving the door open to reintroducing preventable diseases in countries where they’ve been eradicated is a horrible idea. Rather we need to find the political will to expand vaccination into areas which lack access.

I think it is important to allow medical exemptions for people whose doctors believe they are at serious risk of a severe adverse reaction to vaccination; however, personal exemptions aren’t defensible at this point.

“Severe adverse reaction” should be narrowly defined as a reaction that could result in permanent damage or death to a patient.

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