Measles, a disease that has been nearly eradicated in the US, is now resurfacing. Anyone who has been watching the news knows that the source originated in Disneyland. The majority of those infected are people who are unvaccinated. In fact, there are now 30 babies in quarantine as a result of this exposure.
Opponents of vaccines claim that measles is a normal childhood disease that kids do just fine with. However, history and science do not bear this out. In fact, 1 or 2 out of every person infected will die. Other children may suffer permanent brain damage from measles induced encephalitis, deafness or blindness. Measles has no cure.
As healthcare workers, we are again learning disease specifics as many of us have never treated a case of measles. Physicians who have seen it, claim it is something they never want to see again. Kids who are sick suffer. We can no longer be complacent in that it is a near extinct infectious disease in our land. It is back and we all need to know how to recognize it.
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The people held under the sway of the anti-vaccine culture often get their information from celebrities, even celebrity doctors. These people preach the dangers of vaccines, with no real evidence backing them up.
As a healthcare community, we need to get the truth out there in a more believable way. We need to convince people of the safety of vaccines. Unless we do, we will see more outbreaks like Disneyland’s. And we need to call out those doctors who are giving people false information.
As doctors we are increasingly called to practice evidence based medicine. We do not get to decide which evidence we keep and which we throw away. Science dictates that. Doctors who chose to neglect the standard of medical care and put others in harm’s way need to be called on the carpet. As experts, they need to be held to a higher standard.
We have also seen that vaccines are not infallible. Nine of those infected in the recent outbreak were in fact vaccinated. Not every person forms an immune response to a given pathogen. Science has not found any good answer about why. However, if everyone followed vaccine guidelines this would not be an issue because we would have herd immunity. The few that fail to have immunity would not be exposed because the disease would simply no longer be around.
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Many doctors are now refusing to accept unvaccinated children in their practices. Many people cast accusations at physicians in this regards. However, in my practice for example, I see many babies who are too young to be vaccinated. I have cancer patients on high dose immune suppressing medications who are also not immune. Bringing a child who may be sick with a vaccine preventable disease is putting the lives of these other patients at risk. Doctors are doing it to protect their most at risk patients who have no choice on their immune status.
The measles outbreak has taught us many valuable lessons. Perhaps, the most important one is the true value of the vaccines we have had for years that have proven safe and effective. We need to take a more aggressive initiative to make sure all children are vaccinated. No child in the 21st century should die or suffer harm because of a vaccine preventable disease.
