Immunization important to protect people from disease

Disbelief in the value of immunization is allowing once defeated diseases to reemerge. In 2004, the United States documented the elimination of endemic measles. Yet, we still experience outbreaks: 667 cases in 2014, 791 cases in 2018 and over 1,000 in 2019.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tracked the measles outbreaks and has found that the majority of the Americans afflicted were unvaccinated. Low vaccination rates have led to measles epidemics, which can be deadly. Unvaccinated people who develop measles can pass the infection to babies who have not yet been vaccinated. This same pattern is seen with mumps and whooping cough.

A lot of misinformation exists regarding vaccines, but the resurgence of these diseases is directly tied to a medical researcher who committed a hoax on the world.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the principal investigator of a study published in “The Lancet,” distorted numerous patient records so that data would support a connection between measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism. This is not a case where scientists reached different conclusions after reviewing the same data, but rather a deliberate falsification of the research data for money.

Wakefield was paid more than $675,000 by a lawyer hoping to sue vaccine makers. Moreover, clear and convincing evidence proves the falsification of data. “The Lancet” formally and publicly retracted the paper and repudiated its conclusions, and Wakefield lost his medical license, but the fraudulent information had already been disseminated to the public.

It is difficult to estimate the harm caused by this fraudulent 1998 study linking vaccines to autism and the ensuing decline in vaccination rates, but according to the CDC, vaccination rates have declined in the last 10 years. It is very hard to un-scare people. Regrettably, many parents have made fear-based decisions based on these false claims and have lost a child.

Over the last decade, numerous research teams have investigated the relationship between immunization and autism. Fifteen independent research studies have failed to find any link between vaccines and autism. Thus, the scientific community dismissed Wakefield’s findings based upon the best data even before it was discovered that his findings were a deception.

Vaccination has made enormous contributions to public health, including the eradication of smallpox and polio from all but a handful of countries. It is estimated that between 2 million and 3 million child deaths are averted annually through vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) and measles, and many more future deaths are averted in older groups.

Some parents forego vaccines for their children because of concerns about autism and other complications, typically fueled by misinformation. Rather than being worried about the diseases the vaccines aim to prevent, parents are more worried about vaccine safety. Immunizations have become a victim of their own success. Yet, according to the scientific literature, the benefits of immunization outweigh the rare risks.

Children of parents who refuse whooping cough immunizations are at high risk for whooping cough infection relative to vaccinated children. A recent study found that the risk of whooping cough infection in children for vaccine refusers increased 22.8-fold when compared with vaccine acceptors. This result dispels one of the commonly held beliefs among vaccine-refusing parents that their children are not at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.

Parents wrongly rely on “herd immunity,” assuming that others will vaccinate their children, so they do not have to. The risk of an outbreak increases as more parents refuse to immunize.

The federal government thoroughly studies vaccines to ensure they are not risky or harmful. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the CDC all urge parents to have their children vaccinated.

Dr. Brian Grieves is a doctor of chiropractic with a master’s in public health and a member of the Shawano Community Health Action Team (CHAT). Call 715-524-8722 for more information.