Should doctors see unvaccinated children in their clinics?
As rates of measles, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable communicable diseases increase, some pediatricians are refusing to see unvaccinated children in their clinics. Unvaccinated children are at greatest risk of infection with measles or other diseases. They may put other children at risk of disease, especially infants who are too young to be vaccinated or children with chronic diseases such as cancer. Yet not all physicians agree that barring unvaccinated children is the right way to stem the epidemic. “I feel their pain, but that won’t stop the epidemic if you exclude children,” Dr. Kenneth Bromberg of the American Academy of Pediatrics told ABC news. “We want to work with families, and there are other ways to protect children other than excluding those families.” Bromberg suggests physicians see unvaccinated children during separate office hours. What do you think? Should doctors refuse to treat unvaccinated children? Source: Evans, Carter. Measles outbreak sparks debate over unvaccinated patients. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-outbreak-sparks-doctors-debate-over-unvaccinated-patients/
