Towards the end of 2014 and at the start of 2015, the happiest place on Earth quickly became the source of one of the biggest domestic controversy of 2015.
Around 70 cases of the measles outbreak have been reported thus far and most of these were reported in California. This figure includes 5 employees of the famed Disneyland theme park.
Due to the large number of cases originating in California, the theme park officials released a statement urging the parents of unvaccinated children to stay away from the park. The goal of this warning is to reduce the number of contagious people and aid those who are susceptible to the disease. While many have certain circumstances that would require them to not be vaccinated, the most notable and important demographic of vaccination ineligibility are newborns. More specifically newborns under 6 months of age, because they cannot be vaccinated.
In an effort to reach out to unvaccinated individuals and the guardians of children who remain unvaccinated under their care, California Department of Public Health Gil Chavez expressed that measles, “is not a trivial illness.”
In fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes measles as the, “most deadly of all childhood rash/fever illnesses.”
With regards to California itself, the Guardian had this to say:
“Orange County is an anti-vaccination hotspot because some wealthy parents delay or avoid vaccinating their children, fearing side effects or because they think the risk of infection is low. The medical establishment insists vaccines are safe.”
Now, when it comes to political policy, technology and medicine (especially medicine, due to the corruption in pharmaceuticals) I am always extremely skeptical with whatever glass of metaphorical Kool-Aid I’m handed. And one thing is for certain, and I cannot stress this enough before continuing, there needs to be some more extensive research on the effects of vaccinations. One reason being that we do not know enough about it; there are some small studies and collated data.
But one of the main sources of information for the anti vaccination crowd Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), even cited by one Dr. Bob Sears in a televised CNN debate, is careful to inform their audience of their lack of definitive data on the subject.
“When evaluating data from VAERS, it is important to note that for any reported event, no cause-and-effect relationship has been established. Reports of all possible associations between vaccines and adverse events (possible side effects) are filed in VAERS. Therefore, VAERS collects data on any adverse event following vaccination, be it coincidental or truly caused by a vaccine. The report of an adverse event to VAERS is not documentation that a vaccine caused the event.”
So quite realistically, there are unknown short term and long term effects that may possibly occur due to vaccinations. Documentation of these possible effects recorded by both the CDC and VAERS, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times, range from 1400 to 2600 cases a year. Given the amount of vaccinations that occur yearly, the above number simply constitutes too small a percentage to be considered as proof of any demetrious effects of vaccinations.
With that in mind, yes there is a risk to having a vaccination done, but the benefit is not just for your new child, it’s also for the benefit of someone else’s. It’s for the newborn who is too young for vaccines. The lady with a disease diminishing her immune system, and the man with cancer struggling through chemotherapy.
This anti-vaccination campaign will bring back a slew of diseases that we would have considered to be on its way to eradication. As a community we must think of the well-being of ourselves and also others that may or may not have the convenience of choosing to have a child vaccinated.