Response to “Fear Measles, Not Vaccines”
Ouch! Most people would prefer not to get a shot, but not
getting a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination could have deadly
consequences. Vaccines are necessary to prevent horrible and deadly childhood
diseases; therefore, parents must vaccinate to protect all children.
According to WebMD (2015), “measles is a respiratory disease caused by a
virus. It can have life-threatening complications. The CDC calls it the
"most deadly of all childhood rash/fever illnesses." Deadly! Let that
thought sink in for a moment. Here is a disease that is deadly that can be
prevented with a simple vaccine. The problem with getting the vaccine started
in 1998 when a British study linked the vaccine to autism, but the study was
flawed and has been disproven over and over (Siegal, 2015). However, people
still believe the study to be true. These adults have decided not to vaccinate
their children because they are afraid of the consequences of the vaccine. Parents should be worried about the
consequences of not vaccinating their children. Seigel (2015) asserts that “there
are 10 million MMR vaccines given yearly, and the chance of a serious side
effect is 1 in 365,000.” If you do the math, that is about 27 deaths in 10
million doses. If there were a measles outbreak 10,000 of 10 million would die.
The science shows us that 9, 973 deaths could be avoided during a measles
epidemic by a simple vaccination. It is
impossible for me to understand why people would not vaccinate their children
against this possibly deadly disease. Parents buckle them into car seats;
parents put on helmets before the child rides a bike; parents give children
medicine when they are sick. The vaccine is just there to prevent the disease
before it occurs.
Granted, some children cannot take the MMR vaccine. In “Fear Measles, Not Vaccines”, Seigel
stated “children who have chronic diseases or are too young to be vaccinated
are put at risk by parents who choose not to vaccinate (2015). In other words, the
parents of children who cannot get a vaccine rely on the parents of other
healthy children to make sure that the healthy children are vaccinated. WebMD
states that 90% of people who are exposed to the virus and who have not been
vaccinated will get the disease (2015). Imagine that you are the parent of a
child who has just finished chemotherapy treatments or who is too young to be vaccinated;
you can only hope that your child’s friends have been given the MMR and will
not be able to infect your child.
I agree with the author of “Fear Measles, Not Vaccines” because
community health is everyone’s responsibility. Parents must vaccinate in order
to prevent the recurrence of deadly and preventable diseases.
APA Citations:
Siegal, M. (2015, Jan
27). Fear measles, not vaccines. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://sks.sirs.com.
WebMD. (2015, Feb 10).
Measles. WebMd.com. Retrieved from
http://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/measles-faq
