Vaccinations

I am surprised that they are requiring the polio and measles vaccines, particularly if you a born in the USA citizen who has pediatric vaccination records available. Personally, if I could demonstrate that I had met the CDC guidelines for immunization for measles, polio, and varicella I would refuse those vaccines. They are all live attenuated viruses and the only risk we currently have for polio in the USA is vaccine associated. Additionally, the local side effects of the live vaccines are generally more unpleasant and I would want to avoid that unnecessary discomfort.

Good luck.

I don't know what you're talking about - the oral polio vaccine (which used an attenuated virus) was removed from the schedule in 2000 and replaced with the inactivated vaccine.

thanks for the love TheSquire

Vaccines are no guarantee against disease, but they work on a communal level. A higher rate of vaccination in a community protects everyone not because any individual is guaranteed to respond to the vaccine, but because the community is less likely to carry or pass the disease. If you or your children aren't vaccinated, you're relying on everyone else in the community to protect you. As the number of people refusing vaccinations rises, that communal protection is going to be less reliable.

In other words, you'd probably be better off getting vaccinated. The side effects of vaccination for healthy people are minor compared to the diseases we're attempting to prevent. Also, relying on the lack of polio infection in the US to protect you seems silly considering the speed and constancy of global travel.