Thought experiment

[mme_hardy]

What if people who signed opt-out forms for their children's vaccinations had to accept consequences?

"I agree that if there is an outbreak of vaccine-controllable infectious diseases in the area, my child will be forbidden to attend school until the outbreak passes. I agree that if anyone in my household contracts a vaccine-controllable disease, my household will be quarantined until risk of contagion is past. "Quarantine" means that no member of the household will be allowed to leave the house except for a medical emergency, and that nobody outside the household will be permitted to come within contagion distance of the house."

Comments

[rinue]

I've lived mainly in Massachusetts and Texas, which are fairly opposite politically and both have high vaccination rates. In both states, you're not allowed to enroll in school without being vaccinated, the vaccines are free, and it's very hard to get a personal exemption (like, doctors have to sign off that it would be a problem for your kid, or you have to go to court to prove it's a serious religious problem. A parent can't just tick a box on a form.)

Part of the problem with systems that try to fix herd immunity after there's already an outbreak is that most diseases are communicable before they show symptoms. Measles symptoms for instance emerge about 24 hours after you start being contagious.

[mme_hardy]

Massachusetts/Texas sounds much more sensible on that vector. Our sloppy loosy-goosy opt-out system is disastrous.

Yes, measles is pretty much a public health nightmare. Very contagious, communicable before symptoms show, and the first symptoms look exactly like a head cold, which we all know you can walk around during.