The “anti-vaxxer” phenomenon that has swept social media in recent years was initially viewed as something of a joke, but for parents of young children, it’s no laughing matter.
Here in Georgia three new cases of measles were found this week, all among unvaccinated children of the same family, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
That brings the 2019 total in the Peach State to six, still a small number but a worrying trend considering the disease had been nearly eradicated in the U.S. In developing nations the highly contagious viral infection kills tens of thousands per year.
A totally avoidable problem, says the Dept. of Public Health, “Vaccination is paramount to good health, especially when it comes to highly contagious viral infections, like measles. Measles was considered eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 because an effective vaccination program was developed.”
A similar illness, mumps, was also found this week in a student at Lee Middle School in Coweta County. Mumps is, (well, should be) knocked out by the same MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine as measles, which children are instructed to receive in two doses at 12-15 months and again at 4-6 years of age. A new wave of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children, thanks in large part to a social media theory that the vaccine causes autism, has allowed the illnesses to creep back into local schools.
Said CDC Dir. Robert Redfield in a press release, “This current outbreak is deeply troubling, and I call upon all health-care providers to assure patients about the efficacy and safety of the measles vaccine.”
Nearly 700 cases individuals in 22 states, including Georgia, have been diagnosed in 2019 already, the largest outbreak in almost 20 years.
