Kai Hirata?s parents feed him healthy foods. When cold and flu season hits, they increase his vitamin C. But they haven?t given the 7-year-old any vaccines. Diseases such as measles, which sprang up around the country last year, including in Milwaukee and Minneapolis, don?t worry them.
“As more people get waivers, our herd immunity goes down to the point where the entire community is at risk,” said Dr. James Conway, a UW Health pediatric infectious diseases specialist who is on the board of the Dane County Immunization Coalition.