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Medical professionals have an obligation not just to their patients, but to the defense of medical science against pseudoscience. That principle apparently was lost on demonstrators outside Mercy South on Tuesday as they protested the reported firing of a nurse for refusing to be vaccinated for flu under hospital policy. Adults have the right to refuse vaccinations, but a hospital employee doesn’t have the right to put patients’ fragile health at further risk. It’s bad enough that a portion of the public buys into anti-vaccination hysteria. For anyone in a medical field to embrace that dangerous movement is especially disturbing. (11/28)

As temperatures drop and fall is upon us, this is the perfect time of year to take an inventory of our health and make sure we’re protecting ourselves. One thing we can do is as simple as getting vaccinated.According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, pneumococcal disease is the number one cause of serious illness, not only in Tennessee and across the country, but around the world. There are nearly one million cases of pneumococcal disease among adults in the United States each year, which result in thousands of people ending up in the hospital. A recent study from the University of North Carolina found that adults that haven’t been vaccinated cost the U.S. economy more than $7 billion. (I. Michele Williams, 11/29)

Infectious diseases such as chickenpox and measles — once a rite of passage for American children — have been made uncommon due to vaccines. However, in recent years, an increasing number of parents are refusing vaccines, resulting in outbreaks.The overall vaccination rate in the United States is still high, fortunately, and despite this worrisome trend. For example, according to the CDC, more than 90 percent of 19- to 35-month-old American children are adequately vaccinated against measles and chickenpox. Why, then, do we continue to see outbreaks of diseases preventable in the United States? (Saad B. Omer, 11/29)