If you could place parents from 1963 into a time machine and deposit them into today’s world, they would be shocked to learn of a measles outbreak originating at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure Park.
Shocked, because they were so relieved in March of that year to finally have a government-approved vaccine. Until that time, hundreds of thousands of children contracted the disease each year in the United States. About 400 of them died, but many more ended up deaf or blind or with permanent mental disabilities.
Shocked, because they no doubt would expect parents of the future to be at least as educated about diseases and immunizations as they were.
But the Disney outbreak, which hit 59 confirmed cases late last week, represents a colossal triumph of ignorance and a grave threat to the future health of America’s most vulnerable people, its children. Three of those cases are in Utah. And so, it has become necessary once again to remind people of the facts. With a very few exceptions, all parents should immunize their children.
The immunization scare gained real momentum in 1998 when Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a study in a British medical journal identifying links between vaccines and the onset of autism. Numerous other studies found no such link, and then Wakefield himself was found to have outright falsified the data concerning all 12 subjects of his study. He is a fraud. The medical journal, The Lancet, has retracted his study, and Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license.
Some parents worry the preservative Thimerosal can cause damage. It now has been removed from most childhood vaccines.
In order to be effective, any vaccine must be administered to a large percentage of the population — about 95 percent or more. This provides what is commonly known as herd immunity. Some people cannot receive the measles vaccine because of medical conditions. Babies cannot receive it until at least 12 months of age. But if virtually everyone else has been vaccinated, an outbreak from an infected person likely will not spread to these vulnerable people.
When herd immunity breaks down, the disease can gain a foothold, not only among other people who have not been immunized, but among some who have. Of the 59 Disneyland cases, five were fully vaccinated.
Those who refuse to immunize their children cannot credibly argue that vaccines are ineffective. The World Health Organization reports that cases of measles have dropped by 75 percent globally since a major international push to vaccinate children began in 2000. That push has focused on underdeveloped countries where people lack education and resources, not in the United States, where people are presumed to be more enlightened.
In this country, the number of annual cases dropped from 500,000 in 1963 to 644 in 2014. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports those 644 cases represents the highest number since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.
Research shows states that allow people to exempt their children from vaccinations for other than religious or medical reasons have lower immunization rates than those that don’t. In Utah, one may obtain an exemption for any personal reason.
The Disneyland outbreak demonstrates how foolish such policies are. Parents should not trifle with deadly diseases. They should instead treat the medical breakthroughs that provided vaccines decades ago as the blessings they are.
Editor's correction: The original printed editorial said Utah has seven cases of measles, but there are actually only three.