The noble saying declares that “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
It also seems to be the price of health.
A look at measles might provide a good case study.
More that a decade ago, according to The Indianapolis Star, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pronounced that measles had been eliminated from the United States. That’s technically true.
The disease is no longer being transmitted throughout each year, and that’s good enough for health officials to consider measles to be gone.
But the disease is not eliminated. In December, an outbreak started at Disneyland in California. More than 90 people from 11 states have developed the disease so far this year. And in 2014, there were 644 cases in 27 states, The Star reported.
So far, Indiana has dodged the measles bullet.
“We are concerned,” Dr. Joan Duwve, chief medical consultant with the Indiana State Department of Health, told The Star.
“Only one case of measles constitutes an outbreak for that disease here in the state of Indiana.”
Obviously, Duwve’s concern focuses on those who are unvaccinated. And she has reason for that concern.
She said the measles virus is hardy, spreads through the air and can be passed on before an infected person develops symptoms.
If an infected person is in a room with 100 unvaccinated people, she said, 90 of them will become ill.
Those are poor odds. But they’re better in Indiana than in other states.
While Indiana has some attractions that draw international crowds, it does not have anything like Disneyland.
More importantly, Hoosier kids tend to get their shots.
In Indiana, there are two exemptions from the vaccination requirement. One is medical, which requires a doctor’s signature. The other is religious.
And parents have to submit the exemptions annually, to make sure they still want their children to skip the vaccine.
“We ask them to do that annually because we know that some people may change their religious beliefs, so we just want to make sure that the child is as well-protected as the religion allows,” Duwve told The Star.
Other states have other requirements. In California — home of Disneyland — parents can cite medical, religious or philosophical objections to the vaccine. And in California, more than 3 percent of all kindergarten students have exceptions. In Indiana, that figure is 1 percent.
The numbers play out in real life. The Star reported Indiana also has seen two measles outbreaks recently, one in the northern part of the state in 2011 and one in central Indiana in 2012.
In both instances, a person from overseas brought measles into this country, infecting a group of people who were largely unvaccinated.
Each resulted in 14 cases.
We understand some have medical needs that mean they cannot be vaccinated. And we respect people’s heartfelt religious convictions.
But the lesson of all this seems clear.
Make sure your children get their shots.