To the editor:

I’m concerned about the reluctance to receive scheduled vaccines. I have practiced medicine for 54 years and have witnessed many serious diseases that current vaccines prevent. In my early years (1976-1995), spinal meningitis was a familiar and deadly illness in Marshall, MN. But, with the advent of Hib (Hemophilus influenzae) vaccine in 1987 and later the Prevenar 13 (Streptococcal pneumonia) vaccine in 2000, these cases declined.

In 1975, as an Army doctor, I worked in a refugee camp. I witnessed the scourge of hard measles (Rubeola). Our children’s ward, with 30 beds, was constantly full of measles patients. One of our 2-year-olds died, and one of my patients developed secondary lobar pneumonia and thankfully recovered with additional treatment. Measles is very preventable now with the MMR vaccine.

I witnessed only a few adverse vaccine complications. Febrile seizures rarely followed the original DPT vaccine. Consequently, the DPT vaccine was replaced by the DTaP (a weakened version) vaccine in 1997. I believe in the science of vaccination and have witnessed the benefits. 

Vince LaPorte

Marshall

— Vince LaPorte is a medical doctor