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Local doctors and parents react to 'anti-vaxxer global health threat'

The World Health Organization added anti-vaxxers to its top 10 global health threat list for 2019

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A new mother, Lauren Hmielewski knows what it means to make choices. 

"How much to feed them? When do they go to bed? When do they wake up? How much do they need to sleep?! When you're a new parent, you don't know what's hit you," she said. 

One choice Hmielewski said she spent some time making was whether or not to vaccinate her six-month-old Tyler.

"It can become a matter of life and death and it can be a risk we didn't want to take so getting him vaccinated and keeping him as healthy as possible is what we wanted to do," she said.

According to the World Health Organization, choosing not to vaccinate is one of the top 10 global health threats of 2019. At East Tennessee Children's Hospital, doctors said they're seeing a rise in children who did not receive vaccinations. 

"Seeing examples of these diseases, thinking they could come back on a bigger scale, is really quite concerning," said Dr. Ryan Redman. "I think it does warrant it being one of the top ten things that could be a threat to global health." 

RELATED: World Health Organization includes those against vaccines on list of threats to global health

Redman said the increased number in non-vaccinated patients likely comes from once wide-spread diseases becoming less of a well-remembered threat. 

"These will start popping up again, we are already seeing that with measles and other outbreaks and that is simply not worth it from a public health perspective," said Redman.

While nearly all doctors recommend vaccinations, some parents choose to take a less traditional path. The Knox County Health Department frequently works with parents who want their children to be healthy, but choose to not undergo all vaccinations at once. Rather, they opt for an adjusted vaccine schedule. 

"You have to understand where they're coming from it is confusing, there is a lot of information out there," said Dena Marshburn with the Health Department. "Ultimately it is the parents' choice, so if they come in with an alternate schedule, we will make that happen." 

While the topic of vaccination is controversial, each medical expert 10News spoke to said no matter what side you take, talking to a pediatrician before making any decision is a necessity. 

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