If the chances where one in ten million that would probably cause the substance that causes that risk to be banned. If it is one in a trillion it might cause it to be heavily regulated.
Now you've added another element beyond the risk assessment--what, if any, intervention by an outside party might be appropriate. That's beyond risk assessment.
In the case of Hepatitis B, I see that the CDC recommends vaccination for kids.
Why does my baby need the hepatitis B vaccine?
The hepatitis B vaccine protects your child against the hepatitis B virus, which can lead to liver damage and even death. Hepatitis B is generally considered to be an adult disease because it's known to be transmitted through unsafe sex and shared needles. But up to 40 percent of those who get it, including children, don't engage in these "high-risk" behaviors and experts don't know how they got infected. Before the vaccine was introduced in the United States just a few years ago, there were about 25,000 cases a year in children younger than 5 years of age, and only 6,000 of them got it from their mother at birth.
Hepatitis B is highly infectious. About 1.25 million people in the United States currently have the virus. Many of them never feel sick and don't know they have it, but those who become infected as children are more likely to have long-term health problems, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. There is no cure. Each year in the United States, about 300,000 people, mostly young adults, get infected with hepatitis B virus; more than 11,000 are hospitalized, and 4,000 to 5,000 people die.
An estimated one in 600,000 children will have a serious allergic reaction involving swelling of the mouth, breathing difficulties, low blood pressure, and shock. If your child has any of these symptoms (you'll know within a few hours), call 911 or take her to an emergency room. These symptoms may be frightening, but no one has ever died from an allergic reaction to the hepatitis B vaccine.
Tim, I'd want to do more research if it were my kid, but the risk in this case seems sufficient to warrant the shot. They don't know how kids catch it but they do. The risk of the shot is small. The risk of catching it could be death. Looks like a good trade-off to me. I have no reason to disbelieve the CDC's data on this.
As to whether of not it's appropriate for the government to require the shots, I'd need to do more research to have an opinion. I can certainly say that it's worth consideration.
Karen |
