By Haiting Tan
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Measles were declared eliminated in 2000, and in the ten years that followed, there were no more than 220 cases per year. Then in 2014, the United States experienced an alarming surge in the number of measles cases, which, paired with a recent outbreak originating at Disneyland, has sparked a renewal of the debate regarding childhood vaccination.
First and foremost, children should be given vaccines, as vaccination is crucial in saving kids’ lives. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “most childhood vaccines are 90-99 percent effective in preventing disease,” and the Centers for Disease Control estimated that “732,000 American children were saved from death, and 322 million cases of childhood illnesses from 1994 to 2014 were prevented because of vaccination.” Death-by-measles has subsequently decreased by 74 percent due to vaccination, which explains why in lieu of the recent measles outbreak, President Obama urged parents to get their children fully vaccinated.
Anti-vaccine activists argue that diseases targeted by vaccines have more or less disappeared, and that preventative measures are no longer necessary. But while polio was declared eradicated in the country in 1979 and there have been fewer than 25 deaths annually from mumps since 1968, the recent measles outbreak shows that preventative measures are needed to keep these rare diseases from resurfacing.
When Jenny McCarthy, host of the television program “The View,” concluded that her son Evan was born with an immune deficiency that was caused by vaccines and therefore led to his autism, anti-vaccine activists immediately leaped to her support.
Anti-vaxxers constantly cite former surgeon Andrew Wakefield’s journal The Lancet, which proposes a connection between vaccines and autism. However, Wakefield was stripped of his medical license in 2010 when it was shown that he had falsified the data.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, on the other hand, released a list of more than 40 studies showing no link between vaccines and autism. The spread of misinformation leads parents to fear mandatory vaccination. These fears are unfounded and leave the public vulnerable to these infectious diseases.
Some parents believe that their child’s state of vaccination does not have an impact on other children. Those parents are misinformed. They are not only placing their children at risk, but are potentially putting their entire community in danger.
Although the U.S. has yet to establish mandatory federal vaccination, all 50 states require it for children entering public schools, emphasizing the importance of vaccinations.
Anti-vaxxers believe that the government should not intervene in personal medical choices and that parents should have the rights to raise their children as they see fit. Regardless, public health and public safety should be placed above individual rights.
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