Celebrity doc’s vaccine views frustrate experts

In the seven years since “The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child” was published, it has sold more than 250,000 copies and author Dr. Bob Sears has become a celebrity among parents who see danger in immunization.

While the vast majority of physicians are troubled by the anti-vaccination movement, Sears, 45, lends a sympathetic ear. About half his patients forgo vaccines entirely. To others, he offers “Dr. Bob’s” alternative and selective vaccination schedules, which delay or eliminate certain immunizations.

At a conference this year in Rancho Mirage, California, Sears told a roomful of pregnant women, new mothers and health care professionals that vaccines work well and are responsible for the nation’s low disease rate, something parents who don’t want to immunize can take advantage of.

“I do think the disease danger is low enough where I think you can safely raise an unvaccinated child in today’s society,” he said. “It may not be good for the public health. But … for your individual child, I think it is a safe enough choice.”

That approach frustrates infectious disease experts.

“We eliminated endemic measles in the U.S. in 2000. It’s now 2014 and we’re at 400 cases. Why?” Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in an interview in June. The number of cases has since risen to nearly 600. “Because people listen to Bob Sears. And, frankly, I blame him far more than I do the Jenny McCarthys of this world. Because he’s a doctor. And he should know more.”

In a concept known as herd immunity, communities must be vaccinated at a high rate to avoid widespread disease outbreaks. For measles and whooping cough, at least 92 percent of a community needs to be immune, experts say.

In an interview, Sears defended his philosophy of offering alternative immunization schedules, saying they “allow parents to get vaccinations in a way they’re more comfortable” with.

“If they’re given no option, I would say some of the patients are going to choose not to do them at all.”

“The Vaccine Book” is part of the Sears Parenting Library, which includes works by Sears’ father. Dr. William Sears – or “Dr. Bill” – is a frequent TV show guest who advocates breast-feeding, bed sharing and other attachment parenting techniques.

Robert Sears became interested in vaccines as a medical student.

When he started practicing in Orange County in 1998, he began offering patients a delayed vaccination schedule. In “The Vaccine Book,” Sears lays out his alternatives – and what he says are the risks and benefits of inoculations.

Dr. Carrie Byington, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’s committee on infectious diseases, said Sears’ recommendations are “not based in science.”

“The approved schedule in the United States is the schedule that has been shown to be safe and effective,” she said. “The Institute of Medicine, as well as many, many studies, have confirmed this again and again.”