- Re: Measles deaths in Samoa....answers to your loaded questions ... Archived Message
Posted by Jamie
on December 4, 2019, 9:21 am, in reply to "Re: Measles deaths in Samoa....answers to your loaded questions ..."
|
1) I haven't suggested that poverty causes the outbreaks, but rather, like you, that poverty increases your chances of a poor outcome; i.e., poor sanitation, overcrowded living conditions, poor nutrition etc. (As an aside I have read that those low in vitamin A suffer more and that supplementing it has helped massively in Africa.) Disease rates and mortality rates from diseases in western nations were in decline prior to the introduction of vaccination programmes and in the late 19th century, those cities that chose small pox disease management over vaccination fared better than those that relied on vaccination. 2) I didn't say that there were no countries that had achieved 95% vaccine take up. What I said was, there were none the had achieved 95% of the population (happy to be corrected on this), which would have to include all adults, unless they are not to be considered part of the herd. This is made clear in the subsequent point. If you don't keep up with the boosters as an adult (and most don't), you are laying yourself open to the potential for a far worse outcome if you contract measles or mumps. (It's tempting to suggest that the youngest of the herd are protecting the elders and not, as is normally argued, the relatively few unvaccinated...) Contracting the disease early in life will confer, in most, lifelong immunity. As you say, there is much that isn't understood about disease, including why some seem to come and go of their own accord and why, sometimes, a particularly virulent strain comes along, including, I believe, non-wild strains. It's not even as if I do not see situations where vaccination is valid, but rather that they are not that efficient, that childhood diseases are, for the majority, not especially threatening (especially where breastfeeding and good nutrition are playing their part) and that there are very real, highly adverse possible consequences to them. Why do we vaccinate against German Measles, a terribly mild childhood disease? We vaccinate all males to protect pregnant women, but it is unnecessary. If you were to allow all children to possibly contract GM they would then have lifelong immunity. When girls reach puberty, test them and if negative, vaccinate. Test pregnant women again as, I believe, they already do. This would remove one vaccination from the programme for the vast majority and save NHS funds into the bargain. Do you know anyone that has had a massive adverse reaction to a vaccine? Would you make vaccination compulsory? |