When Naperville mom Lisa Rooney was little, she vividly remembers getting chickenpox.

She was itchy all over. Her mother gave her oatmeal baths and slathered on calamine lotion. Now Rooney, 38, has lifelong immunity to the illness without a shot in the arm - and she's among the growing number of parents questioning the need to give their children every recommended vaccine.

"Parents are more concerned about the reaction (to vaccines) and possible autism than they are about the diseases themselves, like measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox," she said.

The recent measles outbreak is renewing health officials' push to keep immunization rates high. But it's an emotional and scientific issue. On one side, parents are concerned about adverse effects, including suspected links between vaccines and autism. On the other side, health experts are concerned a growing unvaccinated population will bring back diseases the United States has wiped out.

Measles is a highly contagious and potentially fatal disease that was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. But seven cases of measles have been found among school-age children in 2008 in DuPage County, where usually one or no cases emerge each year. The DuPage County Health Department suspects the infected children were inadequately vaccinated.

Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received 64 reports of confirmed measles cases in nine states between Jan. 1 and April 28 - the highest number for the same time period since 2001. Only one of those people was vaccinated; 14 were infants who were too young to receive the vaccine, and many of the rest had opted out of vaccination for philosophical or religious reasons.

Full Story and Comments :  http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/lifestyles/1008540,6_5_NA17_VACCINES_S1.article

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