As is so often the case, fear is at the center of a national controversy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that between Jan. 1 and Feb. 6, 121 cases of measles were reported in 17 states and Washington, D.C., with the closest occurrence to Indiana detected in Illinois. Eighty-five percent of those cases are attributed to an outbreak that originated at a California amusement park.
For a disease that was declared effectively eliminated in 2000, measles has made quite a comeback. Fewer than 200 cases of measles were reported in the United States in each year between 2001 and 2010. But occurrences of the disease spiked in 2014, with more than 600 cases reported, and more than half of those came from Amish communities in Ohio where children were unvaccinated. If 2015’s early trend holds steady, more than 1,000 cases will be reported this year.
The resurgence of measles has put the focus on the decision of some parents to not vaccinate their children, and the question of whether vaccinations should be mandatory or a parent’s choice is at the center of a new national debate.
The culprit behind the decision to not vaccinate a child is, of course, fear — in this case, fear that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine could cause autism. And in this case, it’s unfounded.
The vaccine-autism connection dates back to a 1998 report that first sparked the panic, but the report was later questioned and ultimately retracted in 2010. Studies by reputable sources like the Institute of Medicine failed to replicate the results of the study.
But parents will do anything to protect their children. Even whispers and rumors of developmental problems can trump a mountain of evidence that no reasonable person would doubt shows vaccines are not only safe, they’re necessary to keep diseases like measles from taking more lives.
Fear and reason aren’t compatible, though. After all, a reasonable person would realize that vaccinations are the reason cases of measles — which can lead to fatal complications — are so rare to begin with. A reasonable person would understand that failing to vaccinate their children could mean someday putting the kids they’re trying to protect in harm’s way, as well as other children because certain medical conditions mean they can’t receive vaccines. A reasonable person would seek out the opinions of reputable experts instead of accepting the opinions of B-list celebrities and snake oil salesmen as fact.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, both considered Republican presidential hopefuls in 2016, found themselves on the wrong side of the debate last week when they made comments that seemed to support parents who choose not to vaccinate their children.
We don’t always agree with Gov. Mike Pence, but we think he got it right with his contribution to the debate.
“Indiana law requires all children be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases like the measles by getting vaccinated,” Pence said in a statement. “Vaccines protect all our children from illnesses.”
Vaccination isn’t just about protecting your children. It’s about protecting our community. It’s about living in a world without fear of debilitating but preventable diseases.
If the rest of the U.S. took Indiana’s approach, we doubt measles would be poised for a comeback.