CNN is reporting that measles cases this year are at a fifteen year high. Considering last year’s numbers, that should scare everyone, especially parents. Just because measles are considered a “childhood disease” does not mean it is merely an inconvenience. It can cause lasting harm to the person who catches it.
Many parents are worried that the vaccine is worse than the illness. That is simply not true. First, there is no evidence that the measles vaccine is dangerous. Every study done on it over the last twenty years proves this. Second, measles is a dangerous disease.
The symptoms include a fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, inflamed eyes, light sensitivity, white spots in the mouth and a rash. The rash can be very itchy. Those are the lucky ones. Complications include low platelet count, encephalitis, pneumonia, ear infections and bronchitis. Some of these complications are life altering and life endng. It is also possible that a pregnant woman with measles will lose the child or go into preterm labor.
One of the stories told in our family is about the various members that caught measles. All of them were kept in a darkened room to protect their eyes. They couldn’t watch television or read. The reason is because measles can cause blindness. In fact, it is one of the major causes of blindness in poor countries where immunizations are rare.
You may feel that your family is protected, either because “everyone else” is vaccinating or that it is impossible to be exposed. Let’s be quite frank. At least ten percent of parents do not vaccinate their children or keep up with the vaccination schedule. That’s a lot of kids without protection.
As for contagion, a measles outbreak is one flight away. A few years ago, a youngster caught measles in Europe, flew back to the U.S. and before being diagnosed and quarantined exposed a minimum of eight hundred people.
Did all of them catch the disease? No, we were lucky. Many of them, including the adults, had working immunization. Did a few catch it, yes. Eleven children caught the disease, including one child too young for the vaccine. That child had to be hospitalized.
As parents, we chose to vaccinate our children. The diseases that can be prevented by accurate immunizations are far more dangerous than the vaccines. It wasn’t…and isn’t…worth the chance. Is it worth it to you?