Community Corner

Vaccines are Key to Good Health

The recent measles outbreak has returned the importance of vaccines to the limelight. Dr. Tia Raglan Medley, pediatrician at Franklin Square Hospital Center, explains why vaccines are important.

Polio, diphtheria, measles – they’re all diseases of the past, right?

Wrong.

So far this year, 156 confirmed cases of measles have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—triple that of the previous year. In Europe, Africa and Asia, it’s much worse.

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The majority of U.S. cases were people who had traveled abroad and had not been vaccinated against the disease; half of them ended up in the hospital.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory infection that can cause fever, runny nose, coughing and sneezing, watery red eyes and rashes of small flat spots. Like a common cold, it’s spread very easily through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs, and it can linger in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours.

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Measles can lead to ear infections, seizure, pneumonia, encephalitis (brain inflammation) other complications, and in some cases, death.

Before the measles vaccine was available, 3,000 to 5,000 Americans died from the disease every year. While it continues to take the lives of thousands of people outside the U.S., measles had all but disappeared from this country. Until now. Why the resurgence?

As a pediatrician, I encourage parents to follow the CDC immunization schedule, which includes the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. For vaccines to be fully effective, however, the majority of the public has to get vaccinated. In the case of highly contagious diseases, such as measles, if you choose not to vaccinate, you are not only putting your child and your family at risk, you’re endangering the entire community.

Measles, , isn’t the only disease experiencing a rebirth of sorts. In recent years, we’ve seen outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases, such as mumps, whooping cough and Hib, a serious bacterial infection.

All can be deadly. In fact, years ago, they were quite feared. Due in part to the success of vaccines, that memory has now faded and the public is less worried. Despite widespread availability of vaccines, nearly half of parents nationwide say they have deliberately skipped or delayed a shot for their children. And unfounded concerns about vaccine safety persist.

Much of the concern is tied to a misconception linking vaccines with autism and other developmental disorders. This myth grew out of an infamous 1998 study involving just 12 children.

The research has since been retracted for falsified data and the study’s author is no longer allowed to practice medicine in England. More than 20 studies – one involving half a million children - have provided overwhelming evidence that there is no link.

We are fortunate today to have vaccines that can protect us against disease and death. They are more refined and safer than ever before and they don’t weaken or overwhelm the immune system.

But for them to be effective, we have to use them properly. If you still have concerns about vaccine safety for your children, I urge you to discuss them openly with your pediatrician.

In addition, given the recent cases of measles, if you are planning any foreign travel and you have a child between the ages of 6 months to 1 year (those who have not yet received the measles vaccine), talk to your pediatrician about recent CDC recommendations on vaccine coverage before you travel.


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