There is currently a measles outbreak in British Columbia. Two hundred cases have been confirmed in a community in the Fraser Valley. Last year, total, across Canada, there were 83 cases. In 2011, that number was a scant ten. What is going on?
The answer is similar, there is a growing movement where parents will not vaccinate their children. Some will argue that vaccines are connected to autism, pointing to a study which has since been debunked, with both sample selection and a complete inability to replicate it leading it to be tossed out by the medical community. Others will cite religious regions, or their own beliefs on health. All of them are putting their kids, and the children of others, at risk.
Until now, measles largely controlled in Canada, and disease rates have been kept extremely low ever since the 1990s, entirely because of vaccinations. That's a good thing, because it's a disease that is both extremely contagious and dangerous. Three hundred and thirty children die a day from the disease around the world, and there is a risk of death in one of three thousand cases in Canada. Of course, there's no risk of death if you aren't getting the disease at all, and if a kid is vaccinated, they're going to be fine.
The problem is that there is that movement of ill-informed parents that doesn't trust conventional medical wisdom and has decided to reject all of it. They reject everything, which is almost noble in a way, but in the process they are putting their kids, and the children of others, at risk for serious life-changing and potentially life-ending disease.
Here's the simple fact, vaccines have saved lives. That's undeniable, over the years it has been the reason why smallpox, polio and now measles have gone from common, deadly ailments to things that exist largely in the past. There are millions of kids who will not know the danger of contracting measles, that's a fact, and vaccines are the reason why.
Of course, there's going to be people who point to complications arising from some vaccines, and there are certainly risks to any medical procedure. But the results are plain to see, there are simply diseases that no longer have an impact after the widespread adoption of vaccination.
The problem is that since people are not vaccinating their kids, there's a way for the diseases to be reintroduced. After all, it has never been easier to travel around the world, wide-spread air travel ensures that we can get to the furthest corner with little difficulty. Those far flung corners may still contend with these diseases, and they can and do spread it to other places, where there is no immunity. The only way to keep it from spreading is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated against it.
I can appreciate an unwillingness to trust the medical community, even if I don't share it. But in this case, we're making decisions for people who are not old enough to make decisions on their own. Nobody wants to see their child sick, and perhaps we've forgotten the time when a lot of these childhood ailments ran rampant and actually killed kids. That could explain why vaccines, once embraced, are now rejected. It does not, however, justify that rejection, and vaccination is still important for kids.
