_Joshua Waitsman is a junior English and sociology major at MU. He is an opinion columnist who writes about sports and other miscellaneous topics for The Maneater._
Over the past few years there has been an increase in people who wish to do away with vaccines. This is because of a supposed link between vaccines and autism. The people who participate in this movement are simply known as as anti-vaxxers, and by refusing to vaccinate their children they are putting their children’s lives in danger.
A large portion of the anti-vaxxers movement is consists of parents in western countries, and even includes notable celebrities such as Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, but the question still remains: Why do these people not want their children to be vaccinated?
Because of a study that was quickly debunked, anti-vaxxers believe that there is a link between vaccines and autism, especially in the case of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Another part of the anti-vaccination argument is that they don’t want to infringe on their child’s rights. The thing is that children don’t want to get shots anyway because they can be painful not because they are worried about autism.
This has lead to many parents refusing to let their children get this vaccine despite there being no scientific evidence that the MMR vaccine, or any other vaccine for that matter, can cause autism.
Not only are anti-vaxxers hurting their own children, but they can potentially hurt other children as well. Even those who have been vaccinated are falling ill to previously eliminated diseases. In 2000 measles was completely eliminated in the U.S., and this was thanks to a highly effective vaccination program in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Unfortunately, measles has been able to make a return with one of the most notable cases occurring at the Disney theme parks in California. Between Jan. 5 and Feb. 11 there were 125 reported cases of measles coming from the two Disney theme parks.
Out of those cases, 28 of the patients were intentionally unvaccinated including the first case that started the outbreak. Because vaccines only work with community immunity, even those who were vaccinated against measles suffered from this outbreak.
Measles has a death ratio between 5-30 percent in unvaccinated patients, especially those who are under the age of fourteen. Vaccinated children, that develop measles after exposure, have less severe symptoms and much lower mortality rates. Vaccination programs, are used to increase the average age of infection, and therefore shift the burden of disease out of the age group with the highest case fatality (infants), further reducing measles mortality.
So, if a child were to die from measles or some other easily preventable disease should the parents be held liable? Yes, they should. Is it fair for a child, who doesn’t know any better, and can’t get the vaccinations they need to suffer. All because their parents believe in some sort of pseudoscience? No, it is not. If a child dies from a preventable disease like measles their parents should be charged with nothing less than criminal negligence, if not involuntary manslaughter.
Choosing not to vaccinate your child should be treated the same way as if someone were to intentionally infect someone with a disease because that is essentially what these parents are doing.
Don’t be fooled by those who make ludicrous claims that vaccines cause autism. If you were to do any small amount of research it would become clear that vaccines are not bad for you. In fact, it’s the opposite — because of vaccines humans are able to survive once-deadly diseases like polio with a 99 percent survival rate.
Make sure to stay up to date on your vaccines, and if you know anyone who participates in the anti-vaccination movement try to reason with them. If you can’t, then steer clear because they are only putting themselves and everyone around them in danger.
