This really is the $64,000 question! One that has been raging for a number of years now. When health bodies publish information that certain vaccines are known to have potentially life threatening side effects, it goes without saying that there will be a certain percentage who will prevent their children from receiving such a vaccine.
This was especially the case where the MMR vaccine is concerned. Health bodies warned that there may be a connection with this inoculation and a trend for autism in children. Hence, the take-up rate for the vaccine dropped and cases of measles started to reappear in the population again.
As medical science continues to develop, it is highly likely that more and more vaccines are likely to become available. In time, this may even be able to secure your child against the most serious of conditions such as spina bifida occulta. If such a vaccine were to become available, it is a certainty that most parents would want to protect their child from this debilitating condition.
To be completely fair here, we simply do not have the right to say categorically that a parent is in the wrong to prevent their child from receiving a certain vaccine. That parent would have made an informed decision based upon the information that would have been made available to them through the health service.
Can we therefore say that the health service is responsible for such a drop in take-up for certain vaccines? Definitely more so! Our health service has a duty to publish information that is based upon the very best research possible. Where there are small patterns and trends, just for once, they should keep their mouths shut and prevent panic within society.