Anti-Vaccinators: Herd Immunity Won’t Cut It!
I was alerted by my Nana to a mumps outbreak back home: 365 confirmed or suspected cases in Iowa, 33 in Nebraska, 13 in Kansas and 18 in Illinois. One of the concerns is that the mumps vaccine offers only 95% protection–that is, 5 out of 100 people will still be susceptible to mumps if they’re exposed.
So please, please, vaccinate your freaking children. (Vaccinate your non-freaking children, too.) Do you want a 5% chance of mumps if your child is exposed, or a risk much higher than that? (Mumps classically causes swollen parotid glands in the cheeks, but can also lead to meningitis, and infertility in post-pubescent boys.)
Just look at the news around the world. Just today I count officials in four different countries worrying about measles outbreaks. If you think this doesn’t matter to you, think again. For most of you, I can guarantee that someone from each of those four countries is coming to your area. Today. (Measles is generally infectious 4 days before the rash appears to 4 days after.)
Graham,
Wanna bet some of the folks “on the fence” are gonna get the MMR for their kiddos?
I should probably post the article in my office.
I’m mad at myself for not reading my weekly email from the CDC more carefully: perchance they didn’t mention it this week?
best,
Flea
very well said:) and for those parents who doesnt wanna give the MMR for their kids, just imagine. u have a baby girl. she grows up, and decides to have a baby. she becomes pregnant, and there we go… she catches the rubella! if she is at the begginig, she might loose the baby, or later on she can give birth to a very-very sick baby… if u wonder what will be a problem, u just run a search on “congenital rubella syndrome”…
never forget the kids who didnt get vaccination can meet with wnyone who has the disease itself, as Graham said… get all the vaccination!!! as for me, i had the MMR last year. it didnt exist when i was a baby, but now i had it:))))
Glad to see this post! Keep on gettin’ the word out!
Really great point, Sara–that’s another really important argument that I hadn’t considered before. Thanks!
TOO MANY women are now choosing not to vaccinate…
What about booster’s for adults? I seem to remember something about mmr’s given to school children, and back in the 60’s in California, our immunizations were at school, not being effective. Should adults worry about this?