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Interesting NY Times EditorialFrom: Dean Huffman . (dean@thehuffpeople.net)Wed Aug 9 09:43:17 2006
.. The Measles Vaccine Follies Irrational fears of vaccination seem to have been responsible for an outbreak of measles in Indiana last year. It was a sad example of how parents who think they are protecting their children by shunning a vaccine can end up doing them harm. Measles is a highly infectious viral disease that can cause a rash, fever, diarrhea and, in severe cases, pneumonia, encephalitis and even death. Worldwide, it infects some 30 million people and causes more than 450,000 deaths a year. In this country, measles was once a common childhood disease, but it had been largely eliminated by 2000, thanks mostly to development of a vaccine and compulsory immunization of schoolchildren. The introduction of a second dose of vaccine to bolster the first proved especially effective. The outbreak in Indiana last year, which was detailed in a recent report in The New England Journal of Medicine, provided evidence of what can happen to a triumph of public health when a community lets its guard down. A 17-year-old unvaccinated girl who visited an orphanage in Romania on a church mission picked up the virus there. When the girl returned, she attended a gathering of some 500 church members that included many other unvaccinated children. Most had been schooled at home and thus avoided compulsory shots. Their families had access to the vaccine but declined the opportunity because of reports that it might cause autism or other problems. Their fears overrode assurances by health authorities that the vaccine is extremely safe and has no link to autism. By the time the outbreak had run its course, 34 people had become ill. Three were hospitalized, including one with life-threatening complications. No doubt the toll would have been considerably higher had not most of the community been protected by vaccinations. The vaccine isn’t foolproof — two of the Indiana victims had been vaccinated — but it protects the vast majority of recipients. Families that evade vaccination put themselves and their neighbors at risk. All young children, not just those attending school, should be required to get immunized. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/opinion/09wed3.html
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