Measles Hysteria
The recent 2015 measles outbreak in Disneyland has sparked an outcry against parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. Over 60 people have been diagnosed with measles in this latest outbreak.
The hysteria surrounding this outbreak is beyond me. I have seen the articles stating that parents who choose not to vaccinate should be prosecuted. Parents who choose not vaccinate have been accused of child abuse.
I say everyone needs to chill out—easy for me to write that in the midst of a foot of snow falling.
Measles is a highly infectious disease. It is very common throughout the world. In fact, it is estimated that over 20 million cases of measles occur worldwide on an annual basis. Measles can lead to severe problems including encephalitis and death. However, serious complications from measles are rare in the developed world.
I am not downplaying serious problems related to the measles virus. However, serious problems can develop from anything—a common upper respiratory illness can develop into pneumonia. People can die from pneumonia. Should parents who send their children to school with an upper respiratory infection—a cold—be accused of child abuse? Should they be prosecuted? Of course not.
Measles can cause severe complications especially when someone is deficient in vitamin A. One of the best treatments for preventing serious complications from measles is vitamin A supplementation.
The measles vaccine was introduced in 1963. You would think from the propaganda surrounding the shot that the measles vaccine was responsible for the rapid decline in mortality from measles. Think again. Look at the graph below.
The Powers-That-Be claim that vaccines markedly lowered the death rate of common childhood illnesses such as measles and whooping cough. However, you can see from the graph above that the mortality rate of these illnesses were rapidly falling before the mass vaccination campaign began.
I am not saying that all vaccines don’t work. I know some of them do. The chicken pox vaccine has clearly lowered the incidence of chicken pox. However, is that a good thing? I am not sure as shingles cases have skyrocketed since the mass vaccination of chicken pox was started. And, perhaps a child’s immune system needs to be stimulated with these childhood infections to become strong.
Leave a Reply