Friday 3 July 2015

The First US Measles Death in 12 Years

So here it is. Here's the result of the hysteria and fear. The US has seen its first measles death in twelve years.

And now will people vaccinate their kids? This woman had a weakened immune system. Did she die because she caught measles from a kid whose parents were worried about less mercury than is in a tuna sandwich, or the non-existent spectre of autism from vaccines, or 'big pharma,' or any of the other spurious reasons anti-vaxxers come up with? Maybe she wasn't vaccinated because of similar fears? Who knows. She's dead, anyway. No more breathing, no more smiling, no more thinking, no more touching the lives of people who loved her, because of an illness preventable by a single injection.

There are people all over the world who can't be vaccinated for various reasons. Those reasons shouldn't include 'I just don't trust vaccines,' or 'I don't want my kid to get autism.' There are people fighting hideous illness that preclude the possibility of vaccination, people with immune disorders that mean they both cannot be vaccinated and are at greater risk of death if they do catch an illness like measles.

'Vaccination has saved more lives and prevented more serious diseases than any advance in recent medical history.' When you let your unvaccinated child go into town, visit Disneyland, go to school, you're leaving every vulnerable person you encounter open to the possibility of death.