Another Vaccine-Related Distortion

A recent story on the NPR website suggested that fears about a vaccine-autism link were responsible for an increase in cases of preventable diseases throughout the world:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/01/25/265750719/how-vaccine-fears-fueled-the-resurgence-of-preventable-diseases

But is this really true? Let's take measles as an example. The measles virus lives only in humans. If it has been eliminated in a stable population, how would it then be reintroduced? Here's what the CDC says:

As a result of high vaccination coverage and better measles control in the Americas, in 2000, measles was declared eliminated (no disease transmission for at least 12 months) in the United States. Indigenous measles virus circulation was interrupted in 2002 in the rest of the Western Hemisphere. However, measles virus continues to be imported into the United States from other parts of the world. Globally, an estimated 20 million measles cases occur each year. Given the large global incidence and high communicability of the disease, travelers may be exposed to the virus in almost any country they visit, particularly those outside the Western Hemisphere, where measles is endemic or where large outbreaks are occurring. Of the 222 reported measles cases in the United States in 2011, 200 (90%) were associated with importations from other countries, including 72 direct importations (52 among US residents traveling abroad and 20 among foreign visitors). The largest percentage of importations (46%) was among people who acquired the disease in Europe. However, importations consistently occur from other countries and regions, including India and the Philippines.

This data strongly suggests that the primary factor in the rise in the number of cases of measles is TRAVEL; i.e., the importation of the disease into a previously disease-free population by travelers. Whether or not people in that population have been vaccinated is a secondary factor.

We no longer vaccinate people for smallpox, but no one gets smallpox because it's not being imported into the population.

So, we could continue to alter our children's immune systems by vaccinating them with dangerous vaccines, or we could stop importation of these diseases by controlling our borders and screening people who cross them.

In addition to asking why parents are not vaccinating their children, maybe we should also be asking why so much unnecessary travel is taking place. Are open borders and freedom to travel really a good idea? Perhaps not.

Why should all people have to be vaccinated just so a few privileged people can travel whenever they please? Why is it necessary to import foreign workers when there are plenty of unemployed people already here who have (or could be trained to have) the necessary skills?