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Living in the Bay Area, ground zero for the anti-vaccination movement, I’m especially disturbed by the recent outbreaks of preventable diseases like whooping cough and measles. I don’t just worry for the kids, but for people like my mother who received the measles vaccine twice and still doesn’t carry the necessary anti-bodies. Parents who don’t vaccinate put my mother in danger of a very serious illness.

And for what? Discredited claims of autism? Trace amounts of elements and chemicals that are already naturally present, in higher concentrations, in the fruits we eat? It’s time we grow up. There’s no common cold in the 23rd century. There’s a reason for that. Vaccinate your kids. Mr. Spock says so, dammit.

For more information check out the World Health Organization’s Myths and Facts page.