LCI: Vaccines are Victims of their own Success

Photo courtesy of Christine McNab/Measles & Rubella Initiative

If you have been following our blog, you know the importance of measles vaccinations.

And if you have read the recent measles study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners, you know that measles deaths have dropped by 75 percent in the last decade. Health officials estimate about 9.6 million children were saved from dying of measles from 2000 to 2010 thanks to large vaccination campaigns, according to an article in Business Week.

So, if the number of measles-related deaths is dropping, must we continue to vaccinate?

Yes.

Vaccines are mainly responsible for saving the lives of those 9.6 million children in the last decade. To eliminate measles, vaccination campaigns must continue.

Last year was the worst year for measles in the United States in 15 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There were 222 cases of measles, up from an average of 60 cases seen in a typical year. Most of these cases were imported — either by foreign visitors or by U.S. residents who picked up the virus overseas, according to an article in USA Today.

England has been experiencing measles outbreaks due to lower vaccination rates. More than 200 cases of measles have been confirmed in the Liverpool region, making it the largest outbreak in the area since 1988, according to a BBC article.

England is not the only country experiencing outbreaks in Europe. Doctors say measles cases are rebounding in Europe because people do not realize how serious the disease is and are skeptical of the vaccine, according to the Business Week article.

More than 26,000 cases of measles in 36 European countries were reported from January to October of last year in the WHO’s measles summary last December. Despite strong health systems, Western European countries have reported 83 percent of these cases.

Vaccines are a victim of their own success, says an article in USA Today. Thanks to vaccines, the developed world has forgotten what it is like to live with the threat of diseases like measles.

“We’ve not only eliminated these diseases; we’ve eliminated the memory of these diseases,” said Paul Offit, chief of infectious disease at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in the USA Today article. Because these vaccine-preventable diseases have been forgotten, vaccinations are occurring less.

Preventable diseases caused nearly two thirds of worldwide child deaths in 2010, according to a report in U.S. News. The lack of immunizations in areas where the vaccine is readily available and affordable is causing resurgence in places like the United States and Europe.

“Measles elimination requires focused attention on every country with measles and support to the developing countries which still carry the highest burden of measles cases and deaths,” said Dr. Stephen Cochi, senior advisor for immunization at the CDC, on behalf of the Measles Initiative.

Yes, vaccines are working and measles deaths are dropping where vaccination campaigns are present.

And yes, continued vaccination is needed worldwide to prevent outbreaks.

You can help eliminate measles by contributing to the One Shot, One Life: Lions Measles Initiative.