In 2000, measles was eradicated in the United States. No more measles, due to successful vaccination programs. In 2008 measles returned with the largest number of cases since 2000. This trend in the U.S. – rising numbers of measles cases – is the opposite of a worldwide reduction in cases of measles, which still kills 540 children every day. The reason: a growing number of parents who won't allow their children to be vaccinated; and backward-looking public school districts that do not require proof of vaccinations before a child can attend school. Pseudo-scientific claims questioning vaccine safety continue to drive parents into making bad decisions for their children.
Superstition and folk lore about the risks of vaccines is putting our children at risk. The H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic is hard upon us, and there are some who are trotting out the canards that vaccines aren't safe or will cause autism in their children. They are refusing vaccination for themselves or their children, despite the fact that the flu vaccines are proven life-savers. The H1N1 flu is a variant of an earlier flu virus, and the swine flu vaccine is produced with the same time-tested methods used for seasonal flu vaccines.
Abortion rights and gun control are not the only subjects that incite rabid partisans to make death threats against those who favor a right to choose and limiting firearms. Scientists working on vaccines, and even the staff of the Centers for Disease Control have been harassed, intimidated and received death threats from anti-vaccine zealots. Amy Wallace's article on the vaccine wars in the November 2009 issue of Wired is a chilling story about the lack of science and surplus of rage that characterizes many opponents of vaccination.
The National Vaccine Information Center is a group whose name sounds neutral but is a leader in the anti-vaccine movement. Looking at the public comments on their web site it is clear that most of those who frequent the site and post comments approach the subject with their minds made up. They show no interest in science, medical studies, or statistics that support the obvious benefits of vaccine programs. Instead, they are full of grievances: they're tired of the government telling them what to do; vaccines are just a drug industry ploy to make billions more, and vaccines themselves cause problems such as autism. Their conclusion, reached before reason could take effect: there's no way they'll allow their children to be vaccinated.
Never mind that the autism claims have been thoroughly debunked and that several courts have thrown out lawsuits saying that there is no evidence available to support the idea that vaccination causes autism. Never mind that recent research is pointing to genetic factors as likely elements in autism, and that the increasing numbers of autistic children may be due more to better diagnoses than any actual increase in numbers of children afflicted with the condition. Their logic, in the absence of accepting scientific findings, is "my child was vaccinated, my child is autistic, and therefore the vaccines caused autism."
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety provides a comprehensive and accessible body of work on vaccines – those that have been developed, their safety, and other issues. Their web site points to a recent New York Times Op-Ed by Arthur Allen on the vaccine controversy. He argues that the government needs to take the lead in promoting the safety of vaccines. Someone should step up and go after the anti-vaccine position with the same courage that US Surgeon General Luther L. Terry did in 1964 called smoking a public health menace. Liza Gross's A Broken Trust: Lessons from the Vaccine Wars makes the case that the government is losing the battle. There have been missteps and political blunders, and with cultural icons such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Hollywood stars such as Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy winning the charm offensive, public health is at risk.
If only there was a vaccine to prevent superstition and flawed logic, and inoculate us against pseudo-science.
