I’ve paid little attention to the issue of childhood diseases, but has measles become so rare that a couple of cases warrants press coverage? With the MMR vaccine is it no longer considered a normal childhood disease?
This was the title of an article on Yahoo/AP a few months ago: “Measles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents rejected vaccination.”
Glenn Reynolds has been following the vaccination problems at Instapundit. Here is a search on “Vaccine:
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/?s=vaccine
and one on vaccination:
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/?s=vaccination
“VACCINATION UPDATE: MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism. “THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found. Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.” Good grief. How many people’s lives and health might this have cost? A lot:
Despite involving just a dozen children, the 1998 paper’s impact was extraordinary. After its publication, rates of inoculation fell from 92% to below 80%. Populations acquire “herd immunity” from measles when more than 95% of people have been vaccinated.
Last week official figures showed that 1,348 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales were reported last year, compared with 56 in 1998. Two children have died of the disease.”
I’ve been a nurse in Peds for over 20 years, and the last time I saw measles was when I had them in 1967(?). By far, it is no longer considered a normal childhood disease, yet there are outbreaks regionally each year.
The outbreaks (or cases) are probably a combination of parents believing the junk science on the web purporting various conditions (particularly autism) as being caused by vaccines, and thus, children not being vaccinated on time or at all, as well as the influx of unvaccinated illegals.
So I suppose this does warrant press coverage.