The ongoing debate on vaccination

Although experts and the vast majority of Americans maintain that refusing to vaccinate a child puts everyone at risk of once-marginated diseases, more and more parents are choosing not to do so for reasons such as:

1. Thinking that the shots are unnecessary;

2. Fear of health risks, particularly autism;

3. Too much trouble;

4. Too many are given.

On that last point, truth be told, by age six, a child will have been “shot” about 24 times, and that’s too much for concerned parents. So is the fact that, as Barbara Lee Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, reports: “US health officials now recommend 69 doses of 16 vaccines for every child. back.” That alone gives a lot of people a break.

Regarding the fear factor, we must go back to 1998 and the British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield. At the time, his claim that there was a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism was published in the lancetand it spiraled out from there.

The fact that he had interviewed the parents of just 12 children was largely ignored, an investigative flaw that drew criticism from those in the know. But that didn’t deter the press or the many parents who clung to his conclusions, and the damage was done. For when, in 2010, when the lancet he recanted his work and the UK General Medical Council revoked his medical license, it was too late to undo the damage he had caused.

In fact, now known as the “autism guru,” Wakefield continues to have a following.

Then there’s the celebrity factor with the likes of Jenny McCarthy, a former Playboy model who also co-hosted single exit and doled out tips as a columnist. In addition to all that, on July 15, she was hired as co-host of the viewlending credence to her position that vaccines are linked to autism in children, including her now 11-year-old son.

TimeJames Poniewozik called the move “media negligence.”

He goes on to write that “vaccine scaremongering…is spreading a belief that is empirically incorrect, refuted by study after study. And vaccine fear not only potentially harms children whose parents don’t get vaccinated, but others as well.” children, as well as immunocompromised adults, by threatening the herd immunity we rely on to protect the general population.”

There is also the jennymccarthybodycount site, which presents the following data from June 3, 2007 to April 5, 2014:

• # of preventable diseases: 130,730

• # of preventable deaths: 1,381

• # of autism diagnoses scientifically linked to vaccines: 0

That should also give us a breather.

Meanwhile, last year, in California alone, 14,921 kindergartners were left unprotected; so far this year, states have seen 49 measles cases. Meanwhile, more than 4.5% of kindergartners in Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, and Vermont did not get vaccinated for non-medical reasons. Such states are now considered “hot spots” for potential diseases.

And the result? This USA Today The front-page headline says it all: “Deadly Diseases Return: Outbreaks Point to Anti-Vaccine Trends.” In fact, according to the CDC:

• The number of food boxes jumped from 55 in 2012 to 189 in 2013.

• So far this year, 49 cases of measles have been reported in California alone.

• So far this year, 115 cases of food have been reported across the country.

• In 2012, 24,231 cases of whooping cough were reported nationwide.

• In 2012, 480 cases of meningitis were reported, as were 75 resulting deaths.

• It is estimated that measles will infect 3 times more people now than in 2009. As

Despite these upward trends, reality TV star Kristin Cavallari says not vaccinating was “the best decision” for her children. Meanwhile, Kim Hart, a mother of two from California, goes so far as to say: “As a mother, I’d rather deal with my children who have measles or mumps and sit with them in a hospital…than risk being shot and that has irreversible effects.

That, of course, is an interesting take on the subject since being unprotected can also have terrible and permanent effects. Take, for example, Jeremiah Mitchell, who, at the age of six, contracted meningitis. Yes, he survived, but only because the doctors removed his arms and legs, along with parts of his eyelids, jaw, and ears.

As for measles, says Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s director of immunizations and respiratory diseases: “We really don’t want a child to die of measles, but it’s almost inevitable.”

Remember: At one time, measles killed about 450 children each year.

And who is more vulnerable? Babies too young to be vaccinated, children with compromised immune systems, and those who were not vaccinated for medical reasons. Also at risk: The children of people like Ms. Cavallari who chose to keep their children unprotected.

In the meantime, vaccinations are also a must for us, adults, for our own good and that of that “flock” with whom we communicate in our daily lives. Topping the must-have list:

1. An annual flu shot

2. TDAP (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis): a one-time shot even after you’ve had a tetanus booster in the past 10 years

3. HPV (Human Papilloma Virus): A single series of 3 injections: 2 injections, 4 to 8 weeks apart, and a booster 6 months later.

4. Hepatitis Ba Single series of 3 injections: 2 injections 4 weeks apart and a booster 6 months later.

Bottom line: Get your kids all their shots, and then add yourself to that vaccination to-do list. No regrets.