If the statement below is true, California is headed toward more outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses and hence, increased and unnecessary hospitalizations and even deaths.
“We have schools in California where the percent of children who exercise the personal belief exemption is well above 50%,” said Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of the California Department of Public Health’s Center for Infectious Diseases. “That’s going to be a challenge for any disease that is vaccine preventable.”
If you are a physician, you may be treating infectious diseases occurring that you learned about in textbooks but have never seen first-hand.
Read the article in the Los Angeles Times.