My aunt, who retired from being the head of infection control at our local hospital (yes, germaphobia runs in the family!), often sends me updates on disease outbreaks. It's good to be informed, especially when Abby's health is at risk. She recently sent me an update about the Measles outbreak, knowing that I am interested it is and the affect non-vaccinating is having on people world-wide. It was a really long report sent in email form, but I have cut-and-pasted a segment of it that goes along with the discussion about vaccinations. It affirms a lot of what was in the last article I posted about how the information linking vaccinations to Autism has been proven false and that the man responsible for that link has since been stripped of his medical license.
This current outbreak concerns me because so much of it is taking place in the hospitals...where we spend an awful lot of time! Abby won't get the MMR vaccine until between 12-15 months (I think our pediatrician does it at her 12 month appointment), so she does not currently have an immunity. We can't live in fear, but we will certainly take the precautions needed!
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Almost a decade ago, measles was declared eradicated in the Americas,
thanks to widespread vaccination efforts. But outbreaks in Quebec and
several of the United States show that Western Hemisphere countries
are still not immune to the virus, which can be imported by travellers
and quickly infect pools of the unprotected. And the number of those
vulnerable to measles may, in fact, be growing, as some parents choose
not to vaccinate their children for various reasons, among them fear
of possible side effects or a belief that measles and other infectious
diseases are merely a benign rite of passage in childhood.
Quebec's outbreak, which began early this year [2011] and this week
jumped to 330 confirmed and suspected cases, has been traced to a
traveller from France, where uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella
[MMR] vaccine hovers around 60 per cent of the population, far below
the 90-plus per cent rate in Canada. Information provided by Quebec
health authorities shows most of those infected were unvaccinated or
inadequately vaccinated, making them easy targets for the highly
infectious virus, said Dr John Spika of Canada's Public Health
Agency.
While vaccination schedules vary across the country, many
jurisdictions call for a 1st dose at 12 months old and a 2nd before
admission to elementary school. "We're looking at a problem that is
primarily in high schools," said Spika, director general of PHAC's
Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases. "Most of
their cases, over 60 per cent, are between the ages of 10 and 19. The
data that we have received would suggest that a high proportion of
those high-school-aged children may not have received any vaccine. Was
it because they're Quebecers born and raised whose parents refused
vaccine or did they immigrate to Quebec after the school-entry check
and never received vaccine in their home country?"
What is known is that it takes 2 shots of the MMR vaccine to fully
protect against measles. In 1995-96, before Canada moved to a 2-shot
schedule, there was a large outbreak that public health officials
predicted would have risen to 20 000 cases if the 2nd-dose program
hadn't been introduced. And Quebec's epidemic may not be an isolated
occurrence in Canada, said Spika, noting that a small outbreak
occurred in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics, resulting from the
importation of 3 different strains carried by overseas visitors to the
games. "The 3 strains spread and then died out because there weren't
enough susceptibles," he said. Cases could still pop up anywhere in
the country, he said. "If measles got into an unimmunized or
inadequately immunized group of kids, yes, that could happen."
Far from being a trivial disease, the respiratory infection marked by
a widespread skin rash can result in often severe complications: ear
infections that in some cases cause permanent hearing loss;
potentially fatal pneumonia; and encephalitis, or inflammation of the
brain, which can lead to life-long cognitive impairment or even
death.
In fact, measles kills about 165 000 children a year worldwide,
primarily in low-income countries. While that number is still
unacceptably high, infectious disease experts say it is a far cry from
the 750 000 deaths reported in 2000, which predated a massive global
immunization push.
So why would anyone hesitate to have their child vaccinated? A study
by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published this
week by the journal Health Affairs, suggests parents have a number of
concerns that undermine confidence in vaccines. In the authors' survey
of parents, most reported at least one worry over immunization,
including that children: (1) suffer physical pain from shots, (2) get
too many shots in one doctor's visit, (3) have too many vaccines
before age 2, and (4) receive vaccines containing unsafe ingredients.
One of the most controversial issues related to the MMR vaccine is the
fear that the inoculation can lead to autism spectrum disorder,
despite repeated studies that have shown no causal link between the
vaccine and the developmental disorder.
Over the last decade, there was a resurgence of measles -- and mumps
-- due to a dramatic drop in vaccination rates in the United Kingdom
and some other European countries following a 1998 paper in The Lancet
that linked the MMR vaccine to autism. The journal retracted the paper
by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues in early 2010 after the data
presented was discredited. An investigation published by the British
Medical Journal in January 2011 showed that the research by Wakefield,
who has been stripped of his licence to practise medicine in Britain,
"was an elaborate fraud."
Yet vaccination rates have been slow to rebound in those countries,
in part because some people continue to distrust the vaccine. Dr Heidi
Larson, a senior lecturer at the London School for Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine, suggests that part of the reason the notion about
autism persists "is there's a very proactive group of parents who have
autistic children or have neighbours who have autistic children and
who are absolutely convinced that that's the cause of it. This is what
they believe," said Larson, who published a study in The Lancet this
week looking at the reasons behind an apparent loss of public
confidence in vaccines. "And I think we understand the power of
belief," she said in an interview from London. "From a medical
perspective, you want to believe that if we've got the scientific
evidence, that's enough. And it's just not enough for a lot of people.
It's challenging, but I think the medical community needs to come to
terms with the fact that it's not going to be resolved by giving
better facts to each parent about who can benefit ... What's really
important is that we change the way of interacting with those who are
still vaccinating and make sure that they are confident and that their
questions are being answered."
In his view, said Spika, the autism link has been "totally debunked",
and the best way for parents to protect their children is to ensure
that they've had 2 doses of the vaccine. "The measles vaccine is quite
safe, and there's no reason why one shouldn't give the vaccine."
--
communicated by: HealthMap alerts via ProMED-mail
This current outbreak concerns me because so much of it is taking place in the hospitals...where we spend an awful lot of time! Abby won't get the MMR vaccine until between 12-15 months (I think our pediatrician does it at her 12 month appointment), so she does not currently have an immunity. We can't live in fear, but we will certainly take the precautions needed!
Here is an excerpt from the article:
Almost a decade ago, measles was declared eradicated in the Americas,
thanks to widespread vaccination efforts. But outbreaks in Quebec and
several of the United States show that Western Hemisphere countries
are still not immune to the virus, which can be imported by travellers
and quickly infect pools of the unprotected. And the number of those
vulnerable to measles may, in fact, be growing, as some parents choose
not to vaccinate their children for various reasons, among them fear
of possible side effects or a belief that measles and other infectious
diseases are merely a benign rite of passage in childhood.
Quebec's outbreak, which began early this year [2011] and this week
jumped to 330 confirmed and suspected cases, has been traced to a
traveller from France, where uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella
[MMR] vaccine hovers around 60 per cent of the population, far below
the 90-plus per cent rate in Canada. Information provided by Quebec
health authorities shows most of those infected were unvaccinated or
inadequately vaccinated, making them easy targets for the highly
infectious virus, said Dr John Spika of Canada's Public Health
Agency.
While vaccination schedules vary across the country, many
jurisdictions call for a 1st dose at 12 months old and a 2nd before
admission to elementary school. "We're looking at a problem that is
primarily in high schools," said Spika, director general of PHAC's
Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases. "Most of
their cases, over 60 per cent, are between the ages of 10 and 19. The
data that we have received would suggest that a high proportion of
those high-school-aged children may not have received any vaccine. Was
it because they're Quebecers born and raised whose parents refused
vaccine or did they immigrate to Quebec after the school-entry check
and never received vaccine in their home country?"
What is known is that it takes 2 shots of the MMR vaccine to fully
protect against measles. In 1995-96, before Canada moved to a 2-shot
schedule, there was a large outbreak that public health officials
predicted would have risen to 20 000 cases if the 2nd-dose program
hadn't been introduced. And Quebec's epidemic may not be an isolated
occurrence in Canada, said Spika, noting that a small outbreak
occurred in Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics, resulting from the
importation of 3 different strains carried by overseas visitors to the
games. "The 3 strains spread and then died out because there weren't
enough susceptibles," he said. Cases could still pop up anywhere in
the country, he said. "If measles got into an unimmunized or
inadequately immunized group of kids, yes, that could happen."
Far from being a trivial disease, the respiratory infection marked by
a widespread skin rash can result in often severe complications: ear
infections that in some cases cause permanent hearing loss;
potentially fatal pneumonia; and encephalitis, or inflammation of the
brain, which can lead to life-long cognitive impairment or even
death.
In fact, measles kills about 165 000 children a year worldwide,
primarily in low-income countries. While that number is still
unacceptably high, infectious disease experts say it is a far cry from
the 750 000 deaths reported in 2000, which predated a massive global
immunization push.
So why would anyone hesitate to have their child vaccinated? A study
by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published this
week by the journal Health Affairs, suggests parents have a number of
concerns that undermine confidence in vaccines. In the authors' survey
of parents, most reported at least one worry over immunization,
including that children: (1) suffer physical pain from shots, (2) get
too many shots in one doctor's visit, (3) have too many vaccines
before age 2, and (4) receive vaccines containing unsafe ingredients.
One of the most controversial issues related to the MMR vaccine is the
fear that the inoculation can lead to autism spectrum disorder,
despite repeated studies that have shown no causal link between the
vaccine and the developmental disorder.
Over the last decade, there was a resurgence of measles -- and mumps
-- due to a dramatic drop in vaccination rates in the United Kingdom
and some other European countries following a 1998 paper in The Lancet
that linked the MMR vaccine to autism. The journal retracted the paper
by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues in early 2010 after the data
presented was discredited. An investigation published by the British
Medical Journal in January 2011 showed that the research by Wakefield,
who has been stripped of his licence to practise medicine in Britain,
"was an elaborate fraud."
Yet vaccination rates have been slow to rebound in those countries,
in part because some people continue to distrust the vaccine. Dr Heidi
Larson, a senior lecturer at the London School for Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine, suggests that part of the reason the notion about
autism persists "is there's a very proactive group of parents who have
autistic children or have neighbours who have autistic children and
who are absolutely convinced that that's the cause of it. This is what
they believe," said Larson, who published a study in The Lancet this
week looking at the reasons behind an apparent loss of public
confidence in vaccines. "And I think we understand the power of
belief," she said in an interview from London. "From a medical
perspective, you want to believe that if we've got the scientific
evidence, that's enough. And it's just not enough for a lot of people.
It's challenging, but I think the medical community needs to come to
terms with the fact that it's not going to be resolved by giving
better facts to each parent about who can benefit ... What's really
important is that we change the way of interacting with those who are
still vaccinating and make sure that they are confident and that their
questions are being answered."
In his view, said Spika, the autism link has been "totally debunked",
and the best way for parents to protect their children is to ensure
that they've had 2 doses of the vaccine. "The measles vaccine is quite
safe, and there's no reason why one shouldn't give the vaccine."
--
communicated by: HealthMap alerts via ProMED-mail
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