Last week I briefly covered a relatively poor comment by Dr. Savage (PHD not MD). My wife had pointed out that I missed some important aspects such as the herd aspect of immunizations. To this end my lovely wife sent me the following story from Julia Ioffee at the New Republic.
Jenny McCarthy, Anti-Vaccination Movement to Blame for Whooping Cough | New Republic:
“The problem is that it is not an individual choice; it is a choice that acutely affects the rest of us. Vaccinations work by creating something called herd immunity: When most of a population is immunized against a disease, it protects even those in it who are not vaccinated, either because they are pregnant or babies or old or sick. For herd immunity to work, 95 percent of the population needs to be immunized. But the anti-vaccinators have done a good job undermining it. In 2010, for example, only 91 percent of California kindergarteners were up to date on their shots. Unsurprisingly, California had a massive pertussis outbreak.”–Julia Ioffee
Now Julia happens to have been vaccinated for pertussis, the problem is as she states so clearly the vaccine wears off and a booster is now required in adulthood. This used to not be the case, with a 95+% vaccinated as children we had essentially held the disease in its tracks. It is in fact the fault of parents following the anti vaccine industry that are endangering the rest of us. Their reluctance to vaccinate and protect their children not only puts their children at risk but all other adults as well.
I won’t go into all of the cases as I believe Julia Ioffee covers enough of them but this is a serious problem. Do your kids and the rest of us a favor and vaccinate them for all of our good, theirs, yours, mine and the rest of us.
Thank You.
