Just recently a friend of mine refused to vaccinate his second child as he was utterly convinced that his first child acquired autism due to the vaccinations the child was administerd as an infant. As his friend who happens to be a medical student, I engaged in a very productive conversation with him with the hopes of convincing him otherwise. I first stated that he was right. Vaccinations are not 100% safe, BUT they are very very safe, and definitely much safer than the actual disease he would put his child at risk of acquiring. I then went on to disprove his claim that vaccinations cause autism. Much of what is spread is all, at best, pseudoscience filled with antectodal "evidence." 

Adverse Public Perception of Pertussis Vaccine

The left panel shows the incidence of pertusiss disease in countries with sustained vaccine use. The right panel shows the detrimental effects anti-vaccine movments had in certain countries causing an increase in the incidence of pertussis disease. Yes, doctors and immunologists are still trying to make certain vaccines more effective while minimizing rare reactions. I definitely belive the United States should adopt the European adjuvant model as it is definitely more effective. However, vaccinations are a critical component to accomplishing herd immunity within our socieites and without it we would be putting civilization as we know it at risk for rampant disease proliferation.