His blunt message came in an interview that screened just ahead of America’s most watched sports event, the Super Bowl.
Obama decided to take a stand after a sudden outbreak of measles at Disneyland, which is now spreading across the country.
President Obama said that both of his daughters, Sasha and Malia, had been vaccinated, and other parents should follow suit.
“We should be able to get back to the point where measles effectively is not existing in this country,’ the President said.
“I just want people to know the facts and science and the information.
“We’ve studied this a lot. And the fact is that a major success of our civilization is our ability to prevent disease. “
Measles was thought to have been eradicated in the States as recently as 2000, but is now on the march, with more than 100 cases this year alone.
An epidemic is considered possible.
The President’s intervention comes after reports of doctors refusing to see patients who will not vaccinate their children.
One California doctor, Dr Charles Goodman posted a notice in his waiting room, saying: “Parents who choose not to give measles shots, they’re not just putting their kids at risk, but they’re also putting other kids at risk — especially kids in my waiting room. “
Californian Dr Charles Goodman posted a notice in his waiting room.
The symptoms of measles include a rash all over the body. Measles can be deadly in babies, and the Infection can cause pregnant women to miscarry or give birth prematurely.
The fear is also that parents who don’t vaccinate for measles won’t vaccinate for other, much more serious diseases, either.
Vaccination is considered key to saving lives in the Third World, but some parents in the affluent West are now refusing to vaccinate on spurious, unscientific grounds.
The most recent health statistics show that 75,000 Australian children are not fully vaccinated, and affluent or trendy areas, such as Byron Bay, have the worst rates.
