In the past 24 hours, potential measles outbreaks have occurredat Las Vegas MGM Grand, an Emeril Lagasse-owned restaurant in New Orleansand aboard a Bay Area Rapid Transit train outside San Francisco. The reemergence of the disease after years of dormancy is being attributedtoparents who remain reticent about vaccinating their children. The issue hits especially close to home for Jimmy Kimmel, as his wife gave birth to a daughter in July 2014. On Friday nights Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late night host took aim at all of those parents who are more scared of gluten than they are of small pox.
I know if youre one of these anti-vaccine people, youre not going to take medical advice from a talk show host, and I dont expect you too, I wouldnt either. But I would expect you to take medical advice from almost every doctor in the world, Kimmel said. Doctors didnt learn about the human body from their friends Facebook page. They went to medical school where they studied all sorts of amazing things like How to magically prevent children from contracting horrible diseases just by giving them a little shot.'
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In his diatribe against anti-vaxxers, Kimmel also zeroes in on Jenny McCarthy, the former Playboy Playmate who helped popularize the anti-vaccine movementsagenda that Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccines trigger autism. This would all be okay if your kids were the only ones affected, but theyre not, because unvaccinated kids put all kids in danger, especially babies who are too young to get the vaccination shot, Kimmel says. But of course, thats according to doctors, so take that with a grain of salt.
Kimmel then presents his own PSA starring real life doctors talking about the non-existent downside of vaccinations. I thought we settled this in the Fifties, quips one doctor, while another adds bluntly, Remember that time you got polio? No, you dont! Because your parents got you [beeping] vaccinated. The PSA ends, Paid for by professionals that know what they are talking about.