Another Measles Outbreak Points Out The Need For Vaccinations.

It’s been almost a decade since Andrew Wakefield revealed his bogus study concluding vaccines cause autism. That study — which was the result of falsified data — has since been discredited. But not before it got the “anti-vax” movement rolling. We are now reaping what their ignorance and hysteria has sown and it’s not pretty.

The statistics on measles outbreaks reveal an alarming trend: a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last December showed the highest rates in seventeen years. This rise is directly attributable to the anti-vax movement.


Health officials in Southern California say that the current outbreak in that area is the worst in decades. So far this year, twenty-one people in Orange County have been diagnosed with measles. Seven of those were so ill that they had to be hospitalized. Neighboring Los Angeles and Riverside Counties have seen 10 and 5 cases, respectively. It’s important to understand that measles is not just a rash: it can lead to death in about 20% of cases. Pneumonia or encephalitis are two of the most serious complications of measles and both can be deadly.

Measles can be easily spread through infected fluids. That it has been so virulent in Orange County is alarming and for good reason. Orange County is the home of Disneyland. That should be enough to unnerve everyone. The sheer number of children who visit the Disney Parks and the vast array of places from which they come (and return to) is staggering. Should even one infected child visit the parks, the measles could go home with tens of thousands of other children (and adults). Considering that about 10% of parents delay or prevent their kids from being vaccinated, that’s a scary thought.


It’s not just children who need to worry. The measles vaccine wears off over time and adults who have not either had the measles as a child or been vaccinated are susceptible. This is another reason why the refusal of parents to vaccinate their children is not just a personal choice. Because vaccination rates have decreased, the “herd immunity” has decreased as well. This leaves everyone — adults and children — at risk. And not just from measles: incidents of mumps  and whooping cough (among other diseases) have also increased. It’s bad enough that kids are suffering, but adults who contract mumps can become sterile and whooping cough in adults can lead to COPD or pneumonia.

It’s not often that such a direct cause-and-effect can be pinpointed. We know, without a doubt, that not vaccinating children against measles, mumps, diphtheria, pertussis and other preventable diseases has led to an increase of cases. And for what? The so-called “study” that started the whole thing was bogus. Modern vaccines use the minimum amount of dead or weakened antigens to provide immunity, making that argument a non-starter. Thimerosal, one of their boogeymen, has never been used in MMR vaccines and has been eliminated from all but flu vaccines and even then in minute amounts. The anti-vax movement, however, refuses to accept medical science and continues to withhold vaccines from their children. Not only are they endangering their families, they are endangering all of us.

Science blogger David Gorsky has been writing about the anti-vax movement for a few years. He has researched every "study" and every "result" with a scientific eye. And his conclusions reflect my own.

"... the anti-vaccine movement is one of the most dangerous forms of pseudoscience, a form of quackery that, unlike most forms of quackery, endangers those who do not partake of it by breaking down herd immunity and paving the way for the resurgence of previously vanquished diseases. However, anti-vaccine beliefs share many other aspects with other forms of quackery, including the reliance on testimonials rather than data. Even so, although the intelligentsia (and I do use the term loosely) of the anti-vaccine movement realizes and exploits the power of anecdotes and testimonials and how human beings tend to value such stories over dry scientific data, leaders of the anti-vaccine movement realize that science is overwhelmingly against them and that testimonials alone are not adequate to counter that science in the realm of public policy and relations."

Exactly. Why otherwise intelligent people continue to believe this nonsense just boggles the mind. 

The body count laid at the anti-vaxxers’ feet so far is 1,375 since 2007. The cases of preventable illness are even higher: over 130,000 Americans have become sick from diseases that were virtually wiped out before the turn of the 21st century. The anti-vax movement relied on false data and celebrities with no medical training. And all that has caused is suffering and death.

Yes, autism is terrible. I can’t imagine having an autistic child and those who do have my awed admiration. I understand that it is comforting to have a reason for autism, a place to lay blame. However, vaccinations are not it. Modern medicine doesn’t yet know what causes autism. Let’s hope that they do discover its cause — and a way to treat or cure it — very soon. But it’s unreasonable to endanger other children and families in the meantime. This isn’t a private matter anymore, not when others are falling ill and dying from a disease like measles, which should be relegated to the dustbin of medical history. Please. Don’t let other children die because you are afraid of the bogeyman. Vaccinate your children. It’s the right thing to do.