For parents who are hesitant to vaccinate
JAMAICA HAS one of the best vaccination coverage rates in the region, boasting rates of up to 99 per cent coverage for diphtheria and pertussis. These commendable rates protect the health of the individual and safeguard the health of the community. The greater the number of persons vaccinated, the greater the protection to those who cannot be vaccinated, such as newborns, infants and persons with a weakened immune system. Jamaica, however, falls short with the coverage of the second dose of MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine with a rate of 85 per cent.
PARENTS HESITANT
In the last decade, parents have become increasingly hesitant to vaccinate. This trend has resulted in outbreaks of severe and occasionally fatal diseases, not occurring in remote parts of Africa, but in countries in the United States and Europe.
Historically in the 1940s, parents did not hesitate to get diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines, as they knew that diphtheria and pertussis were common killers of children. They saw tetanus claim the lives of soldiers in World Wars I and II. During the 1950s, the polio vaccine was celebrated because it protected children from debilitating paralysis. In the 1960s, parents gladly accepted the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. They knew that measles caused tens of thousands of hospitalisations and hundreds of deaths, primarily from pneumonia, each year; that mumps was a common cause of deafness and a rare cause of sterility; and that rubella caused thousands of children to suffer severe birth defects of the eyes, ears and heart. The result of vaccination saw a dramatic decrease or virtual
elimination, in some cases, of several diseases.
Currently, parents are hesitant to vaccinate because of the confusing messages on the Internet. First, there was a medical report that stated MMR was associated with autism. This proved to be a false report and the paper was withdrawn from the journal.
Despite the lack of scientific evidence of this association, persons continue to hold on to this belief supported by lack of evidenced-based information. What is known factually is that measles is highly contagious and potentially fatal. Vaccines take years to develop and are tested thoroughly. Adverse effects are reported and investigated by the FDA, and vaccine safety is monitored by the CDC and the Ministry of Health.
A vaccine, like any medicine, has side effects. The most common are mild, such as soreness, swelling or redness at the injection site. Others may cause fever, rash, and achiness. Serious side effects are rare. For example, oral polio can cause paralytic polio in one in every 2.4 million doses. Giving injectable polio vaccine removes this rare severe complication. The benefits of vaccinations with polio outweighs this rare side effect. Polio was once a disease feared worldwide, striking suddenly and paralysing mainly children for life. Today, we are on the verge of a poliofree world as occurrences of polio have been reduced by 99 per cent.
The diseases are far more dangerous than the vaccines which prevent them. Let’s keep our children and community safe from vaccine-preventable diseases.