Vaccinations are one of those touchy subjects now that the issue has become political. The President of the United States doesn't believe in the effectiveness of vaccinations, which echoes the sentiment of many people through social media. But those echoes have become screams, and the science behind infectious diseases is showing a return of some of this countries most infectious.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Maine has already seen nearly double the amount of cases of whooping cough in 2017 than during the same period in 2016. And just recently, the first case of measles in Maine was reported after a two decade absence. The culprit? A rise in kids not being vaccinated before they head to kindergarten. Roughly 5% of Maine students heading to kindergarten did not receive all of their vaccinations, that's up .5% from last year. The percentage has continued to increase each school year.

Maine parents are well within their rights to opt-out of vaccinations for their kids. Maine is one of only a handful of states that allows parents that right. The majority of the states across the country require kids to be vaccinated for the most serious, and potentially most dangerous diseases and infections, like measles.

As the number of kids without all vaccinations continues to rise in Maine, the debate over this issue is likely to get more intense. Where do you stand? Should Maine continue to allow parents to opt-in or opt-out on vaccines? Does that put the rest of the population at greater risk?

 

 

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