Measles And Fear

Measles is the latest episode in the long-running hit program called Medical Madness. Don’t get me wrong; measles is a nasty disease and warrants thoughtful consideration. Actually, that is part of my problem with what has been going on; the “thoughtful” is entirely absent. There is little, if any, dialogue, and precious little thought in evidence. As the people generating the biggest buzz are most often politicians or media commentators, it should not be surprising that they have no grasp of the complex issues involved. With apologies to Rand Paul, ophthalmologists should also be forgiven for not knowing much about vaccines. At the other end of the spectrum, studying this issue for 35 years, while treating sick patients and personally administering vaccines myself, I know a great deal more. However, that knowledge does not grant me certainty. Instead, my knowledge is the main reason I am not 100% certain. My goal now is to generate some uncertainty in your own mind. Uncertainty, a bit of ambivalence, is healthy. It is vital in the face of a growing push for extreme responses. There is a proposal in California to eliminate personal choice vaccine waivers, supported by both of our senators and our governor. The UC college system is mandating a wide range of vaccinations for all incoming freshman as of 2017 (MMR, tetanus, chicken pox, meningitis, pertussis - aka, whooping cough). I have no problem with people deciding either to vaccinate or not vaccinate. I do have problems with reactionary, knee-jerk decisions and the conviction of some under-informed or biased individuals, that they should make decisions for everyone else. What Is Measles? Measles (rubeola) is one of the “childhood” diseases medicine has been trying to prevent with vaccinations. Children with measles develop cough, runny nose, irritated eyes, a high fever (104) and a rash. The two worst complications are pneumonia and inflammation of the brain. In parts of the world where children are sickly because of malnutrition, measles is a big killer. Measles is a “childhood” disease because everyone used to catch it during childhood. It was so common that your driver’s license can be proof of immunity. Officially, anyone born before 1957 is immune to measles. How common was measles? Statistics are often misleading, and never more so than when they are about an illness so common that reporting it seemed like too much of a bother. Before the measles vaccination program was rolled out in 1963, in America we had approximately 500,000 cases of measles reported every year and 400 -...