Parents Confront One Another on Playground over Vaccines
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iStock/Thinkstock(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Amid what could be the worst measles outbreak in 20 years, some West Coast parents have a bone to pick with moms and dads who don’t vaccinate their children.
Mothers say they plan to start asking other parents whether their children have had all their immunizations and, if they haven’t, the play date is over, according to ABC News’ Oregon affiliate KATU-TV. But stay-at-home dad Chuck Dotson isn’t budging.
“That’s their choice in being mad because my kid didn’t get all of his shots,” Dotson told KATU. “But guess what: If my kid gets sick, he would be home.”
Dotson takes his children to an Oregon play cafe where the owner tells KATU she would love everyone to be vaccinated, but she won’t ask unvaccinated children to leave.
Meanwhile, chatter beyond online parenting forums and Facebook groups has begun to heat up, as parents discuss the so-called “vaccine wars.”
Lyss Stern, CEO of Divalyssious Moms, an 11-year-old lifestyle company based in New York, said the measles outbreak is a hot topic among her half a million members.
“The chatter and the buzz isn’t just online,” she said, adding that vaccine conversations are happening between parents on playgrounds, in classrooms, in doctor’s offices and in restaurants. “You have the right to ask…the person throwing the birthday party. You have the right to ask if they know who’s been vaccinated and who hasn’t been.”
The measles outbreak has grown to 102 patients in 14 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said most of the cases have been linked to mostly unvaccinated people at Disneyland.
Measles is so contagious that it can spread to an average of 18 people for every one person who gets it. Because the virus is airborne, it can linger in the air and infect someone after they’ve left a room, according to the CDC. It can also live on surfaces for hours.
Even worse, measles is contagious long before symptoms appear, according to the CDC.
Symptoms start with a fever and then a rash develops a few days later. Complications include pneumonia, hearing loss and swelling of the brain known as encephalitis.
“People don’t realize that at the turn of the century, 107 out of every 1,000 babies died before their first birthday,” said Dr. Lolly McDavid, who directs UH Case Medical Center’s child advocacy and protection program in Cleveland. “Vaccines and clean water have been the number one cause for improvement in children’s health in the United States.”
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