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Nature Medicine 12, 1228 - 1229 (2006)
Published online: 30 October 2006 | doi:10.1038/nm1106-1228

News feature: A shot of fear

Virginia Hughes1

  1. Virginia Hughes is a freelance writer based in New York.


Spooked by reports that vaccines might cause diseases such as autism, many parents choose not to vaccinate their kids. But when their decision endangers others, asks Virginia Hughes, should the government step in?


On 15 May 2005, a 17-year-old girl from Indiana returned home after a church mission trip to Romania. She had been home-schooled throughout her childhood, and, afraid of vaccines' side effects, her parents had chosen not to get her immunized.

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