The Other Antivaxers - with Stephen Novella

Opposition to vaccines is not a new phenomena, but what about religious opposition to vaccination? Earlier this year 8 employees were fired from a hospital in Indiana for refusing mandatory flu vaccinations. One of the fired nurses, Ethel Hoover, a senior nurse with more than 21 years of experience claimed that her employer's vaccination requirments violated her religious liberty.

The conservative-christian lobbying group Liberty Council has long argued that Christians should not be compelled to take vaccines because some vaccines are derived from aborted fetal tissue.

But what truth is there in these claims, and how should hospitals balance their employee's desire for religious freedom agains their paitient's desire not to contract the flu?

I spoke with Stephen Novella - he's best known as the co-host of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe and the president of the New England Skeptical Society in a addition to being a medical doctor. I began by asking Stephen just how important is it for medical staff to be vaccinated against infectious diseases: