Did you know that the Center For Disease Control lays out criteria by which people should not be immunized? People that have allergies to poultry, dairy, family history of seizures, etc should NOT be immunized. 95%+ people are safe though there are clearly people that can be harmed by immunizations.
The problem is that for various reasons this information is not widely disseminated. This means that a culture of fear and paranoid concern around immunization has built up, based on elements of truth. Sadly, people who should not be immunized are, and many more who are fine to be immunized are not.
I don't doubt that this whooping cough outbreak is very much related to this culture of fear though the next step of identifying real concerns can only help. Big issue, easy solution, big obstacles to do the most obvious: fully inform the user on do's and don't's.
My two cents.
Boo