By Nathan Green, writing for The Chicago Tribune
November 13, 2011
Vaccines have been, for a long time, a thing that one feels safe receiving, something that
brings comfort and feelings of security. This has been the general consensus and feeling
toward vaccines since scientists have had the ability to synthesize vaccines correctly and
administer them in an appropriate way.
It was not until the horror stories of rushed vaccines causing strange and unusual side
effects to the recipient that the fear of vaccines and their side effects began to grow. Since
these fears have been instilled into the minds of millions, the sway of feelings continues
to grow into what should be the less favored direction, and it is growing rapidly. With
evidence and sheer proof of many parents refusing to get their children vaccinated at the
medically accepted age by a qualified physician, it is no wonder that spikes in infections
of measles and TB have risen dramatically, as of late.
Although the blame for these outbreaks can not be solely placed on the lack of vaccines
being administrated to children, as many adults have been contracting these viruses as
well, mostly when traveling from places in Europe back to the United States. The
combination of these two factors has led to the highest amount of cases of the measles in
the United States since 1996, according to data released at a meeting of the Infectious
Diseases Society of America.
Many speculate on the significance of these outbreaks, which are miniscule when
compared to population sizes and what is generally accepted as “epidemic” status
population infection. However, these outbreaks, although small when looked at on a large
scale, have the ability to turn into epidemics if the correct precautions are not taken.
The majority of the outbreaks have been occurring in parts of Europe, but when people
go visit these countries, there are the occasional few who are not vaccinated and contract
these viruses, bringing them back to the states and possibly spreading them in the United
States or other countries as well.
With the recent decrease in the amount of vaccinations administered to children and
adults alike, these “carriers” of these viruses from other countries could potentially start
an outbreak, which in turn could create an epidemic, with due time.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta collected data that concluded
that 86 percent of the people in the United States that have contracted measles this year
have been unvaccinated”(sciencenews.org). This is irrefutable evidence that the nonvaccinated do play a large roll in the outbreaks that have already occurred.
Some may be asking themselves, “How is this a problem? I thought most people get
vaccinated?” However, more people may not be getting vaccinated than one may think.
According to a sciencemag.org article pertaining to this subject, Physicians Chris
Harrison and Tom Tryon of the University of Missouri in Kansas City presented data
from a survey of more than 900 pediatricians in nine states showing that 21 percent
stopped accepting appointments from families that refused to have their children
vaccinated. In Minnesota that rate was only 1 percent, but in Iowa it was closer to 38
percent. This data suggests that the denial of vaccinations has become an intrusive thing
in the field of medicine, so intrusive that measures were made to try and shape the
direction of these decisions into the way seen medicinally accurate.
Europe seems to be the catalyst for these outbreaks, seeing as to how they have the
largest amount of outbreaks with the largest amount of people involved in them,
according to an article on reuters.com. The reasoning behind the increased amount of
outbreaks in Europe is unknown, but most agree that measures should be put into place to
deter the effects these outbreaks have on humanity.