[shhrubbery!]

I'm old enough to remember the days before MMR -- and the kids who were blinded or retarded or killed by measles or rendered sterile by mumps. I'm not quite old enough to remember when they closed the swimming pools because of polio epidemics . . . but EVERYBODY got their kids the polio vaccine because they remembered those days.

I got my kids vaccinated for MMR and polio -- though I refused to go by the "schedule" that submits tiny infants to multiple shots, too early in life.

But when my state started mandating the HEPATITIS B vaccination (like Maryland is demanding here), I put my foot down. That's ridiculous.

The state has NO BUSINESS mandating Hep B shots. Hep B is not spread by casual contact, and little children are extremely unlikely to engage in the kind of behavior that transmits it (getting tattoos, engaging in perverted or promiscuous sex).

[AnAmericanMother]

I can see getting it before they start high school - because some doctors believe it can be spread through sharing towels, toothbrushes, etc. even though the primary means of transmission is sexual or dirty needles.

The authorities disagree about how likely Hep B infection through casual contact can be. The CDC pooh-poohs it, but some hospitals (e.g. Childrens in Philadelphia) say it's possible. And since the consequences are so horrible, my kids have the vaccine (my daughter is pretty safe, her patron saint is Maria Goretti, that'll give you an idea, but my son is JUST the sort of kid who would go get a tattoo at some fly-by-night parlour if a friend dared him . . . )

[stentorian conservative]

I refused to go by the "schedule" that submits tiny infants to multiple shots, too early in life.

Same here. Although by the way my Ped looked at me you woulda thought I had outright refused. It then became one of those situations where it was explained to me that I had no business making such decisions because I was not properly trained in the medical field.
Blech.

Trained or not trained, I got my way and he got paid.

[CGTRWK]

The state has NO BUSINESS mandating Hep B shots. Hep B is not spread by casual contact, and little children are extremely unlikely to engage in the kind of behavior that transmits it (getting tattoos, engaging in perverted or promiscuous sex).

Not spread by casual contact doesn't mean not spread at all. Kids get cuts. Kids bite each other. Kids get raped. Later, kids turn into teenagers and most of them get tattoos and have sex. Maybe even your kids.

Public health is the public's business.