History Repeats Itself
A lead article in the September 22, 2011 issue of the Los Angeles Times proclaims a predictable fact: “California leads United States in Measles Outbreaks.”
Since parents have refused or delayed their child’s measles vaccination the incidence of this disease has increased. That observation is a “no brainer”. Stop immunizing and the disease raises its ugly head and strikes our children unless it has been eradicated from the planet. As we all know that is the case with smallpox. Years of work in immunizing earth’s population against smallpox finally made the vaccination unnecessary. This of course is not the case with measles.
The disease is present all over our planet. Parents have decided not to give their children protection against this serious disease because of spurious data provided by a fraudulent investigator who has subsequently lost his license to practice in a foreign country.
His claims linking autism to the measles vaccine panicked some parents to withholding protection. Now we are reaping the harvest of their ill-founded decision.
We saw the same in the past with the DPT vaccine and the resurgence of whooping cough. Articles filled the media about reactions to the DPT shot. Parents refused them, and guess what? Pertussis took the opportunity to run rampant among the infants of Europe and America! Here we go again with measles. It is time we wake up and provide protection against serious diseases.
The claim that physicians give immunizations because they are profit makers is unfounded. I can tell you, as a practicing pediatrician, very little profit margin exists with these vaccinations. Denying your child the benefits of immunizations borders on child abuse.
I certainly agree that all new vaccines should be approached with caution. Once given they cannot be taken back. But proven safe immunizations should be accepted with open arms. Our philosophy with immunizations has always been not to be the first to jump on the band wagon, but not to be the last either. This approach lets experimentation to be conducted on other than our patients. Let’s get on with life and protect the children we are responsible for.