All of us love to go on vacation, and where better than the wonderful Disneyland in California.
However, I don’t think anyone would have wanted to be there in the beginning of 2015. As of
February 2015, measles is no longer eliminated in the US, in part to one major outbreak of measles originating from Disneyland in California. As well, during 2014, there were 23 outbreaks of measles in the USA and over 600 individual cases, which is the highest seen in decades. While there has been a decrease from last year to this year, there has been over 188 individual measles cases so far in 2015. One of the major reasons outbreaks, or even individual cases happen, is because of a term named Herd Immunity. The illustration to the right, taken from the US Department of Health, shows how herd immunity works: the top box depicts a community in which no one is immunized and an outbreak occurs. In the middle box, some of the population is immunized but not enough to confer community immunity. In the bottom box, a critical portion of the population is immunized, protecting most community members. The principle of herd immunity applies to control of a variety of contagious diseases, not just measles, including influenza, mumps, rotavirus, and pneumococcal. Many of you have heard of these disease, but one disease not included in the list is Polio, or poliomyelitis, which is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person's brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis. However, this disease is almost globally eradicated due to vaccines and a global herd immunity; there are less than five hundred cases per year in the past few years, down from what used to be tens of thousands. While vaccines never prevent one hundred percent of any disease, they provide the protection that most people need. Even though herd immunity is extremely important in our global society today, some people are not able to take certain vaccines. Many people’s opinions on vaccines take one of two
extremes, either everyone has to take vaccines or no one should take vaccines because of certain reasons; the truth is, not all people can even take vaccines. When we are young, everyone is taken to the doctor for a check-up and for their booster shots. As you grow older, you keep going back to get more vaccines and even a yearly flu shot. However, according to US Department of Health, there are many cases when someone should not take vaccines. For example, you shouldn’t get the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) vaccine if you have had cancer before. By clicking this link, you will be redirected to a site that explains when you should not have a certain type of vaccine. Finally, just like any medicine, vaccines can cause side effects which you may want to be aware of. “For the most part these are minor (for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever) and go away within a few days,” states the US Department of Health, “…however, a decision not to immunize a child also involves risk and could put the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease.” This data is also repeated from multiple different reliable sources, such as the Center of Disease Control. By clicking this link, you will be redirected to a potential list of side effects for vaccines. While everyone has the freedom to make their own decisions, data has proven time and time again that unless we have a herd immunity against a disease, it will repeatedly return and do more and more damage; vaccines can prevent dangerous disease, ranging from polio to smallpox to meningitis and help our communities stay safe.
However, I don’t think anyone would have wanted to be there in the beginning of 2015. As of
February 2015, measles is no longer eliminated in the US, in part to one major outbreak of measles originating from Disneyland in California. As well, during 2014, there were 23 outbreaks of measles in the USA and over 600 individual cases, which is the highest seen in decades. While there has been a decrease from last year to this year, there has been over 188 individual measles cases so far in 2015. One of the major reasons outbreaks, or even individual cases happen, is because of a term named Herd Immunity. The illustration to the right, taken from the US Department of Health, shows how herd immunity works: the top box depicts a community in which no one is immunized and an outbreak occurs. In the middle box, some of the population is immunized but not enough to confer community immunity. In the bottom box, a critical portion of the population is immunized, protecting most community members. The principle of herd immunity applies to control of a variety of contagious diseases, not just measles, including influenza, mumps, rotavirus, and pneumococcal. Many of you have heard of these disease, but one disease not included in the list is Polio, or poliomyelitis, which is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person's brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis. However, this disease is almost globally eradicated due to vaccines and a global herd immunity; there are less than five hundred cases per year in the past few years, down from what used to be tens of thousands. While vaccines never prevent one hundred percent of any disease, they provide the protection that most people need. Even though herd immunity is extremely important in our global society today, some people are not able to take certain vaccines. Many people’s opinions on vaccines take one of two
extremes, either everyone has to take vaccines or no one should take vaccines because of certain reasons; the truth is, not all people can even take vaccines. When we are young, everyone is taken to the doctor for a check-up and for their booster shots. As you grow older, you keep going back to get more vaccines and even a yearly flu shot. However, according to US Department of Health, there are many cases when someone should not take vaccines. For example, you shouldn’t get the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) vaccine if you have had cancer before. By clicking this link, you will be redirected to a site that explains when you should not have a certain type of vaccine. Finally, just like any medicine, vaccines can cause side effects which you may want to be aware of. “For the most part these are minor (for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever) and go away within a few days,” states the US Department of Health, “…however, a decision not to immunize a child also involves risk and could put the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease.” This data is also repeated from multiple different reliable sources, such as the Center of Disease Control. By clicking this link, you will be redirected to a potential list of side effects for vaccines. While everyone has the freedom to make their own decisions, data has proven time and time again that unless we have a herd immunity against a disease, it will repeatedly return and do more and more damage; vaccines can prevent dangerous disease, ranging from polio to smallpox to meningitis and help our communities stay safe.