Once more for the back of the room:
Vaccines are safe. Vaccines save lives.
It feels so dumb to have to repeat that so much, but as herd immunity continues to erode thanks to the misinformation pushed by anti-vaxxers, it feels like I need a megaphone.
Measles is still the leading vaccine-preventable cause of death in the world.
In 1980, approximately 2.6 million deaths were caused by measles, and as immunization rates rose, there was a clear drop in the number of deaths reported.
The drop was incredible.
In 1990, 545,000 people died. By 2014, it was 73,000. In the U.S., consistent, widespread vaccination had pretty much eradicated the disease by 2000.
Most modern outbreaks now occur in poorer areas of Africa and Asia, where vaccine availability is low.
As of this writing, there are 555 confirmed cases of measles in the United States for 2019, and it’s only April.
Cases are being found around 20 states and two outbreaks in New York State have been declared as emergencies.
They’re also instituting mandatory vaccinations to help fight the spread.
The New York outbreaks have been linked to a concurrent outbreak in Israel, which was brought back by travellers from New York’s Orthodox Jewish community before being spread to other unvaccinated people.
The outbreak in Israel has also been linked with a growing anti-vax community within the country.
And that’s where 8-month-old Shira Goldschmidt was living when she caught the measles.
Her mom, Fainy Sukenik, is pro-vaccination.
She and her four children are up-to-date on their shots, but Shira wasn’t old enough for hers yet when she came down with a fever and runny nose in December 2018.
At first, the doctors thought it was a regular virus, but a couple of days later, the spots started to appear.
Sukenik told CNN:
“It wasn’t just dots on one part of her body. They were everywhere: inside her mouth, between her fingers, in between her toes. I’m an experienced mother, and never ever have I seen something like this. I was really scared.”
Shira ended up in the hospital, hooked up to IV fluids and in isolation.
She couldn’t eat, could barely drink, and her breathing was shallow. She was too weak to move.
Though she’s recovered and recently celebrated her first birthday, future complications are possible.
Measles is notorious for its late-occurring side effects.
One of those is subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a disabling and likely deadly disorder of the brain. It’s rare, but doesn’t appear until 7-10 years after a person has measles.
It means that Sukenik and her family are stuck worrying for most of Shira’s childhood.
“For years I’m not going to be able to rest from this fear,” she said.
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Experts told CNN that similar cases are inevitable as long as vaccination rates don’t improve.
Measles is so contagious that if an infected person sneezes in a room, the virus can live in the air for two hours, and an unvaccinated person has a 90% chance of catching it.
Babies and those with compromised immune systems that prevent vaccination are most at risk for complications.
While the illness can be relatively mild in adults, it can be deadly for those who are most vulnerable.
When she posted a rant againt anti-vaxxers on Facebook, Sukenik was attacked in the comments.
They claimed that Shira got the disease from the vaccination — which she hadn’t even gotten yet — questioned Sukenik’s parenting skills, and even tried to argue that Shira had a genetic defect.
But Sukenik isn’t going to let them stop her from campaigning for vaccinations.
“If they want to pick a fight with me, I am not afraid. I’ve seen in my own home what it means for a baby to have measles, and the responsibility is on us to make sure this epidemic goes away and this doesn’t happen to another baby.”
h/t: CNN
