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<< the dangerous fear of the MMR vaccine >> The vaccination debate has been refueled as a case of Measles was identified in an eight month old infant in Nassau County, New York. As a resident of New York State I am particularly concerned. Toronto Canada has also recently announced that there has been an increase in the number of measles cases in the city. According to CBC news in Canada, "Three cases of the illness have been reported in Toronto and a fourth is under investigation." Let this be a warning to all who have decided not to vaccinate their child. As concerned as we are as parents about the risks involved when vaccinating our children, we also have to be mindful of the risks involved when NOT vaccinating our children. There are third world countries out there losing their children to Measles on a daily basis because they don't have access to the vaccinations we have here. We should consider ourselves fortunate. While I am just as concerned as you probably are about the MMR vaccination in particular, I remain an advocate of an alternative or delayed vaccination schedule and do not support the school of thought that says we should not be immunizing our children because all vaccinations are bad, bad, bad. By not vaccinating your child, this not only puts your child at risk, it puts our children at risk and it is irresponsible. An alert was issued Monday morning after a health official determined that it was a highly contagious case. Naturally precautions are being taken to prevent this from becoming a widespread epidemic, but since Monday 12 children have had to be quarantined as a result of being exposed to the child at two separate daycare facilities; Bally Fitness in Greendale, New York (which does not require records of immunization be provided), and a church affiliated daycare center in Greenfield New York. In my opinion, the daycare centers were just as irresponsible as the parents for not ensuring that all of the children were up to date on shots. And shouldn't we rethink this 30 day deadline law, whereby a parent has 30 days to provide the center with up to date records of their child's immunization? Being that I'm a new mom of a child that is not yet attending school and does not attend daycare, I had no idea about this 30 day rule. Shouldn't parents have to provide schools and daycare centers with immunization records BEFORE they start mixing in with other children? This 30 day rule makes absolutely no sense to me. That is 30 days too many that an unvaccinated child could be subjecting other children to something like the measles. Case in point.
The problem is too many parents are assuming that all the other children are fully vaccinated. But here's the thing, according to the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, a population needs to have 95% immunization to have "herd immunity". Did you know that London's rates of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shots are about 75%. Apparently, the numbers of measles outbreaks are on the rise. In 2004 there was a STORY featured in a popular London newspaper about two young boys being left permanently disabled because they came down with the measles. Their parents were concerned that the MMR vaccination would put them at risk for Autism. This concern is now widespread and stopping parents in their tracks when it comes time for their child to receive the MMR shot. More and more parents are asking for the shots to be broken out into individual doses instead of subjecting their child to the MMR. The THEORY that the MMR shot causes autimsm and bowel disease came from a man named Andrew Wakefield. For more information on the Measles, click HERE. Given the fear that most parents, including myself, have about giving their child the MMR, you would think that the American Academy of Pediatrics would reconsider their recommended schedule to provide parents with some peace of mind. Fear of the MMR shot causing serious complications in our children, as well as the number of vaccinations that are required have turned parents away from immunizing their children altogether, and as a result may end up leading to a deadly outbreak. How many situations like this one will they need to see before they make a change?
becca - 2008-04-10 11:23:39 |
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