South Africa is in the grip of a Measles epidemic that has affected over 2,000 people and killed four, with the majority of cases occurring in the Guateng region.
But an unusual feature of this outbreak is that it isn't necessarily poorer families being effected. The South African Department of Health have noted an unusual pattern to the cases.
"One striking feature of this latest outbreak is that while it has affected children of the poorer communities, it has also been concentrated among relatively well-off children, predominantly in the 15-19 year old age group. We believe that in both groups, the underlying cause has been failure by the parents or guardians to take children for immunization i.e. both the initial and follow-up doses."
Authorities in the region are launching a mass vaccination program for children up to the age of 15 to try and bring the virus under control, but they are running into the Wakefield effect; parents who, as a result of the errant doctor's long-since discredited work still fear that the vaccine will somehow lead to their children developing autism. As a result, thousands of South African children are being left tragically unprotected against a disease that can cause death, blindness and brain damage.
The problem is leaving health authorities exasperated. Kim Hawkey of the South African Sunday Times reports that:
"Dr Lucille Blumberg of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the autism theory had played a role in parents opting not to inoculate their children. "It, in fact, caused huge harm to the programme. There is no scientific basis whatsoever linking autism to the measles vaccine," Blumberg said.
[...]
"The executive director of the NICD, Professor Barry Schoub, said the autism theory had "spiralled completely out of control", possibly because some parents of autistic children bought into it while trying to find the cause of their children's condition."
While it's tempting to pin the blame for this outbreak on anti-vaxers, there may also be problems with the vaccination program itself, as News24.com report:
"There were also others who got measles although their vaccinations were up to date.
"Dr Lucille Blumberg of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said earlier it was not clear how this happened.
"Two vaccinations were supposed to protect 99% of children and one vaccination 85%. It could be that earlier consignments of the vaccination were not cooled or stored properly."
It could of course be a statistical thing - with a vaccine that's 99% effective there will always be a handful of people who get the vaccine and still get Measles - although in a fully vaccinated population of course herd immunity will still protect them. Still, it's something the authorities need to investigate further if they're going to restore confidence in the national programme.
In the meantime, events in South Africa give us yet another reminder - if any more were needed - of the consequences of irresponsible quacks and reckless journalists starting vaccine scares.
http://layscience.net/trackback/743
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Preventable human death is always a tragedy, but have they told us all the facts in this case. For instance, who where the children that died? Vaccinated or unvaccinated?
I only ask as a friend of mine in Ireland a few years ago noticed it was only previously vaccinated children that were hospitalised with measles. (The same is happening now with the flu vaccine and kids, but there is of course an explanation.).
Remember the documentary a few years ago where a dad blamed other parents for not vaccinating their kids for the loss of his own? He didn’t say “I wish I’d vaccinated her” which would have been a real clincher – no, I suspect she was vaccinated, but died anyway (I really would like to know the truth either way).
Also 50 years ago if you picked up any medical text book, or asked a medical doctor, measles was considered, normal and rarely caused problems. It was not for instance, smallpox. But I suppose now, its all relative.
Interestingly New Scientist published a paper about 20 years ago on the possible genetic effects of removing diseases from our planet that we had evolved with. The hypothesis was 2 fold. One was quite simply survival of the fittest. Second was that especially childhood diseases taught the immune system to work properly, and vaccines couldn’t. The second part of this theory was based on the ideas of some doctor in Switzerland (I could be wrong) who used to inject measles into children with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (a very painful and heart breaking condition). The result was that once the child recovered from measles, the JRA went as well. He obviously got shut down for all kinds of ethical reasons but don’t you think that’s interesting?
I’m not anti-vaccine, the theory is great, and certainly worked well for smallpox and polio (though there are a few issues raised, I think, by Salk himself). I just don’t think we are in a position to really be pumping lots of strange stuff into kids without waiting a few generations to see what happens. A few should be examined at a time, and we shouldn’t rush in, just in case it cripples our immunity.
Best of Health
Chris
p.s. Just as James Randi has offered a million dollars to anyone that can prove psychic ability, another millionaire has put up $100,000 to any paediatrician who will take the full adult amount of vaccines given to children. In both case, no one has stepped up.
Who is this millionaire with the $100,000?
I would be more than happy to be injected with all of the vaccines for $100,000. I have no worries about being injected with all of the vaccines simultaneously (because it is completely safe) and I could use the money.
Where do I sign up?
-Derek
If the "millionaire" in question is Jock Doubleday, many people have offered to take him up on his 'challenge', including myself (http://layscience.net/node/464) - if you look at the terms he makes them so ludicrous that noone can possibly meet them to take the challenge (you have to pay him thousands just to take part, without any guarantee you'll even be allowed to proceed). For the record, I've had considerably more than the the amount of vaccines given to children visiting Brazil and Kenya - doesn't fuss me in the slightest, but then I did work in immune modelling.
I'd love you to provide references for some of your claims. The idea that measles was harmless 50 years ago (or indeed today) is of course a myth (http://layscience.net/node/198). Measles still kills tens of thousands world-wide. The suggestion that the vaccine causes Measles is rather scuppered by the fact that outbreaks only occur in populations with low vaccination rates.
Martin is the editor of layscience.net.
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Chris Pickard, quite a number of people have accepted Jock Doubleday's challenge to "publicly drink a mixture of standard vaccine additive ingredients in the same amount as a six-year-old child is recommended to receive under the year-2000 guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention".
However Jock has so far refused to accept any challengers. He claims anyone who accepts cannot be of sound mind therefore he couldn't, in good concious, allow them to go ahead.
See:
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/?p=473
http://www.layscience.net/node/464
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/gentlebirth.htm
"However Jock has so far refused to accept any challengers. He claims anyone who accepts cannot be of sound mind therefore he couldn't, in good concious, allow them to go ahead."
So, he wasn't serious about the challenge. If he was, surely he would have thought through the possiblility of someone accepting.
This is pathetic.
Thank you for pointing this out to me - I stand corrected.
I have several questions...
May I know why people need to be "re-vaccinated" against Measles?
Why is it that Canadians are not allowed to choose only measles vaccination from MMR vacs? (This question was raised via Twitter and not mine.)
Also, did anyone notice that epidemics were dying down whenever vaccinations were introduced? Stats, anyone?
Do measles vaccine contain Thimerasol?
If Murphy Brittany's doctor told you you need a vaccination, would you take it?