Lack Of Vaccination Increases Measles Cases
Lack of vaccination is one of the main causes of the global measles outbreak. In 2000, the US was about to declare its eradication in the country by recording an incidence of less than 12 cases per year per region.
Currently, however, due to immigration and lack of vaccination, we are a long way from that goal. According to UNICEF, we could speak of a resurgence of the disease.
What is measles?
Measles is a very serious and contagious disease that caused, before the mass vaccination of the population, around two million deaths a year. Currently, according to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that there were 110,000 deaths from this cause in 2017, the majority of children between 2 or 3 years of age.
The disease is caused by a virus of the paramyxovirus family that exclusively affects humans. The contagion occurs either through direct contact or through the air and first affects the airways, later spreading throughout the entire body.
Virus Effects Due to Lack of Vaccination
The virus first manifests itself with a high body temperature 10 to 12 days after infection. Later, a rash (reddened rash) appears, usually on the face and neck, which extends to the rest of the body, reaching up to the hands and feet. After about five days the symptoms start to regress and disappear.
However, in other cases, complications can occur during the infectious process, leading to blindness, encephalitis, pneumonia and eventually death if symptoms are not treated in time.
These more serious cases are more frequent in children under the age of five with suppressed immune systems who are in areas of malnutrition or where vaccination is not enough.
Causes for lack of vaccination
Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavin (Vaccine Alliance), points to the competition from several facts as a possible cause for the outbreak: ” the self – indulgence with the disease and the spread of false information about the vaccine in Europe, one Venezuela’s collapsing health system and Africa’s fragility and low immunization coverage have led to the global resurgence of measles after years of progress. ”
Countries such as Guatemala, Nigeria or Pakistan are currently on the alert for a possible measles outbreak because of the lack of vaccination in these countries. This fact is surprising considering that the measles vaccine is very cheap, as its price has already been determined by pharmaceutical companies and UNICEF.
Wars and the lack of a health system in developing countries mean that, in many cases, children receive only the first of the two doses needed to generate immunity against the disease, and immunizing a child costs less than 1 euro .
Vaccine rejection in developed countries
These data and the fact that, in 2012, the World Health Assembly approved the Global Plan of Action on Vaccination with the aim of eradicating measles contrasts with epidemiological data on measles in the first world.
The lack of vaccination in these countries is a worrying fact. Campaigns by the anti- vaccination movement that misinform the population helped to spread the belief that vaccination is no longer necessary once symptoms can be treated, as well as distorted information regarding the dangerousness of its possible side effects.
But the reality is very different: health professionals are reconsidering a possible vaccination campaign for women born between 1971 and 1981, as the consequences of being infected during pregnancy can lead to a miscarriage or serious birth defects in the fetus.
The measles vaccine is over 60 years old. It is safe and effective, to the point that it is usually given together with rubella and mumps vaccine. It is true that a percentage of the population has adverse effects, but we are talking about millions of vaccines annually.
Measures to avoid contagion
In 2001, associations such as the International Red Cross, CDC, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and WHO signed an alliance, the Initiative against Measles and Rubella, with the following objectives:
- Combat misinformation.
- Ensure a continuous investment system.
- Public support for vaccines.
- Take the vaccination to disadvantaged areas.
- Eradicate the disease.
