Deborah Huso's article, "Boston Measles Outbreak Points to Importance of Vaccination", posted on AOL Health on March 3, 2011, talks about how important it is to be vaccinated and continue to receive vaccinations in light of the arrival of measles in Boston. It talks about how an increasing number of patients are choosing not to get their children vaccinated because of the belief that vaccines for the measles, along with those for the mumps and rubella, cause autism. Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, a clinical medicine professor at the University of Cincinnati, says, "Measles are very contagious and they can be transmitted from person to person very easily." He goes on to say that it is transmitted in the same way influenza it spread, as we learned in class, from droplets from coughing or sneezing. Despite the parental concern of autism stemming from the vaccine, Dr. Fichtenbaum says that vaccine rates are still strong.The article really drives home the point that by not being vaccinated people are placing, not only themselves, but also everyone around them at risk. There have already been two confirmed cases and three suspected cases of measles. Even though the disease was almost eradicated and is uncommon in the United States, the fact that it is back is very scary and it is important for people to be wary. Over 20,000 children died from measles before vaccines were available and the fact that people are putting their children, and other people, at risk of catching it is also scary. "I think the key question is: how many people could be affected?" says Dr. Fichtenbaum. He says that 20 cases is enough to be considered an epidemic in the United States.
With measles running rampant through the Boston area, it is very important for people to keep up on their vaccinations. Not getting vaccinated just seems silly since the disease is extremely easy to catch and spread. I think it is very important for people to keep themselves protected against the disease. One interesting point of the article was the mention of children receiving immunizations before they begin school and also before college. Most of us are going to be going to college in the fall, and I think we would all feel better knowing that none of our new friends are going to spread measles of some other disease to us. Vaccinations are an important part of modern medicine and not getting them puts you at an unnecessary risk. It was also interesting that parents were able to not vaccinate their children, because I thought kids had to have certain immunizations before they were able to be enrolled in school. It is also interesting that parents would not vaccinate their children due to a myth of autism being a result of the vaccinations. They would be willing to risk something like measles spreading to their child to avoid something like autism, which isn't even proven to stem from vaccines.
The article can be found at: http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/03/03/boston-measles-outbreak-vaccination/
Alex, I really liked your article because it was local and related to class. I know there are a lot of myths that go along with vaccinations for children, and autism is a very serious disorder, but like you said there is no scientific proof behind it. The science is behind vaccinations though, so I strongly agree with you about how everyone should be vaccinated. This article also taught me a lot more about measles and how contagious it really is. Since this is so local I hope everyone is being informed about it and educated on the spread of it so it does not become another epidemic.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article, and really agree with it. Although i believe everyone is entitled to their own choice and opinion, I feel that everyone should without a question get vaccinated. I don't think risking the lives of others is fair by not getting vaccinated. I also found it helpful to hear the seriousness of the measles, and like Stephanie, I hope people don't take this topic at all lightly, especially because of how local the cases of the measles are.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds pretty awesome Alex, and I remember hearing about the measles outbreak on the news when I read your article. In my opinion there are some vaccines that are unnecessary, but this one I happen to believe is as it is important and actually affective. I can only hope like many people realize that being vaccinated for measles is very important and there happens to be a reason why its very uncommon. That means that the vaccines have been obviously been doing their job, unlike in some other scenarios.
ReplyDeleteThis article was surprising because it was about a vaccine for the measles. If it were something like the flu, I would expect there to be some people opposing the vaccine, but when there is an outbreak of the measles in Boston, a disease that's very easily spread from person to person as the article says, it's amazing people refuse to get vaccinated. This brought up the idea that vaccine aren't always the cure to the spread of disease, because many will never get it. But when this happens, who know when the outbreak of a deadly disease will happen? A simply prevention is overlooked because parents are afraid of their kid getting autism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone is saying and I also think it is very immature for someone to not get vaccinated. With something so easily spread as the measles, if you don't get vaccinated and catch them, you could very easily pass them on to someone that has not had the opportunity to get vaccinated yet. I think everyone should get vaccinated because even if the fear of becoming autistic is influencing someone's decision, it would still be better than dying from this disease.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Alex said. There is a lot of myths and talk about how vaccines can cause diseases but there is no scientific proof that these vaccines are causing autism and other diseases. I would rather risk a viccine than have my child get a serious illness like measles.
ReplyDelete