THURSDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Some parents' refusal to vaccinate children seems to be behind the highest rate of measles cases reported since 1996, federal officials said Thursday.

Between Jan. 1 and July 31 of this year, 131 measles cases have been reported in the United States, many of them among children whose parents have philosophical or religious objections to the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At least 15 patients, including four children 15 months or younger, were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

A friend of mine just got bitten on his hand by a feral cat (a very angry feral cat). The cat took off so there's no way of testing it to see if it had rabies. Does my friend need to get rabies shots? Or would the chances be so low that it wouldn't be necessary?

I was reading the news link on Empowher, regarding the moral objections to the HPV vaccination.

Many parents will not allow their girls to have the vaccination because they believe it will encourage them to have sex. Since behaviors like smoking leads to cancers, so having sex leads to HPV. Both are behaviors that are preventable, say the objectors to this vaccine.
Kimberly Martinez, executive director of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, a nonprofit group that advocates teaching children not to have sex rather than to have safe sex.

I read in the NY Times this morning that this year's flu vaccine failed in its effectiveness, being only 44 percent effective. So there were tons of people out there who took the time and effort to get a flu shot only to find themselves sick with the flu anyway.