Infants of mothers with college educations and higher incomes are less likely to be up-to-date with routine vaccinations than children with of less educated mothers with lower incomes, according to a study of nearly 12,000 tots.

Among those between the ages of 19 months and 35 months, children whose mothers had less than a high school education were 16 percent more likely to have received vaccinations than toddlers whose mothers had graduated college.

While the researchers expressed surprise at their findings, saying that more education is usually associated with better health care access, I think the study’s senior author may have hit the nail on the head when she said the results may echo the possibility that college-educated women are more likely to have read articles questioning vaccine safety -- or at least have heard about such controversies.

In reality, vaccines given to newborns contain an array of potentially toxic chemicals including formaldehyde, the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal, aluminum phosphate (toxic and carcinogenic), antibiotics, phenols (corrosive to skin and toxic), live viruses and various other components.

Before you decide to vaccinate your children, do them a favor and look into the many risks and side effects associated with common childhood vaccines. Doing so could mean the difference between life and death.

American Journal of Public Health December 28, 2006

The New York Times January 17, 2007