Imagine you are the parent of a 6-month- old child. What if, for example, you are planning to go to a birthday party in nearby Montgomery County. It’s a family party so you want to bring your 6-month-old baby. But wait. There are now confirmed cases of measles in Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties. Your child has not yet been vaccinated because the first measles, mumps, rubella vaccination, known as MMR, is normally administered at age one. What do you do? Do you go anyway, knowing that your child is at risk? Do you wonder how to protect your child? Do you remember that in 2000, measles was considered eradicated in the United States due to high vaccination rates? Now, it’s not safe to take your infant to a party (or any other public place) because there are kids who have not been vaccinated, with the support of the current administration. And, does it bother you that, until very recently, you would not have to consider any of these difficult questions in making the simple decision to take your child on a family outing?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has spoken out against the measles vaccine many times based on a 1998 article by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and 12 coauthors in The Lancet, a British medical journal. In the article Wakefield suggested autism was caused by administration of the MMR vaccine. The conclusions drew strong criticism from other researchers as being based on faulty evidence and the Lancet later retracted the article. Kennedy continued to cite the article as a reason to question MMR vaccinations.
The current MMR vaccination rate in the U.S. is just over 92% (less in some areas such as Texas) with a 95% vaccination rate required to stop measles from spreading, according to the World Health Organization. So, now, any child under one year of age is at risk for contracting measles from an unvaccinated person. Measles is so contagious that 9 out of 10 unvaccinated people near an infected person will become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And a person can be infected for up to three weeks before showing any symptoms, easily putting hundreds of others at risk.
Vaccines are the most cost-effective health care in the world. With a strong vaccination program, many diseases of children and adults that can and do kill can be completely controlled. The history of vaccination benefits is as old as the U.S., beginning with George Washington’s decision to inoculate the Continental Army troops in 1777. The implementation of a vaccination policy to eliminate infectious disease provides for the common good, just as the 13 original states joined to become a country for the common good, as taxes provide for the common good, and as programs and agencies of the United States provide services for the common good.
The current administration has taken several steps which support the unfortunate recent trend of increasing vaccine hesitancy and undermine the public health benefits of vaccination.
• Secretary Kennedy initially minimized the measles outbreak in Texas and continues to give mixed messages by advocating for unproven and sometimes dangerous treatments. In an interview on Fox News, Kennedy falsely suggested that the vaccine does not provide lifetime immunity and warned that it causes “all the illnesses” that measles itself causes.
• CDC buried an expert assessment that found the risk of catching measles is high in areas near where vaccination rates are lagging.
• DHHS has reportedly selected David Geier, a known anti-vaccine advocate who does not have a medical license and was disciplined by the state of Maryland’s medical licensing board for practicing medicine without a license, to conduct a study on links between vaccines and autism.
• The Food and Drug Administration forced the resignation of Peter Marks, head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research responsible for vaccine approvals. In his letter of resignation, Dr. Marks stated “it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”
If the current measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico, which commenced with the first reported case in January, continues for more than 12 months, the U.S. will likely lose the measles elimination status that it has held since 2000. Let your legislators know that you value science-based vaccination programs that protect all of us.
This is a contributed opinion column. Roy Birnbaum is a retired corporate attorney. Alice Lenthe is a retired environmental health and safety executive director. They both live in the Lehigh Valley. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.
