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Your Letters
Taking Shots
You present a misleading, unbalanced story
(“Calling the Shots,” September 2014) that
supports Marin parents who choose not to
vaccinate their children. While I support individual choice in most cases, I wonder if these
parents take into account how their decision
may negatively impact other children and their
community. I respect these parents’ decision
to not vaccinate their kids but don’t believe
they are thinking of other children at their
kids’ school and the consequences of their
decision. Moreover, It would have been nice if
science and facts and the counter-argument
were presented in the article so more parents
could make informed health decisions. I would
suggest the rights of the “non-vaccinators” are
being presented to be more important than the
rights of the other 92 percent of responsible
Marin parents. What about the rights of the
Marin community? JON KRAGH, VIA EMAIL
What a nice, “balanced look” at the vaccination
issue. In your follow-up, I suggest an interview
with a parent whose infant died of pertussis, accompanied by photos of polio-stricken
children in exotic travel locations favored by
Marinites, and a blow-by-blow description
of the onset and treatment of rubella. Those
are the real-life consequences of the Personal
Belief Exemption. Parents should see before
they choose. KATHY ASTROMOFF, SANTA CRUZ
As a survivor of childhood polio and one who
has lived with paralysis and underdevelopment of one leg and foot for 63 years, I thank
you for bringing the issue of vaccination
to the Marin public. I also am the facilitator for one of two post-polio support groups
and info sources in the Bay Area, Post-Polio
Marin, also serving Sonoma and Napa coun-ties. We have located 30 polio survivors in
Marin County, but I am sure there are far
more. While I respect freedom of choice, I feel
that the choice not to vaccinate children is
a naively uninformed and foolish one. Well-meaning parents may think their lifestyles
preclude infectious diseases. My parents,
while I was a child in the 1950s, had a huge
organic vegetable and fruit garden; we ate
very little meat and got lots of fresh air and
