The article I will be discussing today is entitled: Whooping cough makes a comeback; found in The Washington Post. This article talks about the resurgence of whooping cough in California, especially among young infants. Few babies have died, while hundreds have become 'desperately ill.' The article then goes on to discuss the possible factors that may contribute to the resurrection of this horrible illness. Some factors include it being easy for parents to opt out of vaccinations for their children in California; pertussis is more infectious than other diseases and spreads quickly among those unprotected; and even problems with the current vaccine- it being acellular, rather than a whole-cell vaccine. Nevertheless, vaccines did help get rid of whooping cough for some time, even causing some to believe it was no longer in existence. But, the article still cautions parents to make sure their kids are indeed vaccinated, followed up with booster shots as necessary, even in adulthood, to extinguish this spreading and deadly disease.
Herd-immunity is the idea that if most or a good number of people are vaccinated, even those who are not vaccinated are protected as well because it becomes harder for a virus, bacteria, or what have you, to find a vulnerable and susceptible host. This relates to public health's importance of vaccinations in that the idea of 'herd-immunity' becomes a problem if more people are opting out of vaccines because of it, making it easier for infectious diseases to spread. Herd-immunity only stands true if most people are actually vaccinated; this idea becomes dangerous when parents think their children are ok because the other children are vaccinated, but other parents are probably thing the same thing.
There are many reasons why children don't receive the recommended immunizations. Two that originate from patients/parents are the idea that herd-immunity stands true in their community and some parents are afraid of side effects from the vaccine- such as the mistaken association that the measles vaccine causes autism in children, or real side effects such as fevers and seizures. Two that originate from physicians are that the now commonly used acellular vaccines are not as good as the whole-cell vaccines and that without boosters, vaccines may become ineffective. Two that originate from the healthcare system are that vaccine production and availability is decreasing and that vaccines don't seem to be mandatory in some areas.
In dealing with the recent resurgence of whooping cough, it would be a priority for all young children, students, and parents and other adults working with children or students to receive the vaccination or a booster to create the ideal state conducive for herd-immunity so that those who may not have access are also protected. I also think it would be necessary to immediately put into effect mandatory immunizations required before entering school- public, private, or home-schooled. This would prevent any other resurgence in the future.
Some food for thought.
Later,
Thomasina
GReat post.
ReplyDeleteLiked your definition of herd immunity and your summary of reasons for not vaccinating.
For your interventions, I would like to know some specific interventions "to create the ideal state of herd immunity" as you mentioned. Making is mandatory across all schooling sounds effective but a little difficult in the short-term. More realistic and diverse interventions (education, funding for free clinics, media campaigns) would be good to talk about.