Measles in Hastings

Six cases of English Measles have been confirmed in Hastings in the past week. Measles outbreak in Hastings.

Measles is an entirely preventable affliction. All it takes is two doses of vaccine. If roughly 95% of the population were vaccinated then measles would disappear. These stories, and similar accounts, should simply not be happening. The fear and misinformation spread by anti vaccination proponents is directly to blame for the suffering of these children. It is sad that it may take a full scale epidemic of a deadly condition like Pertussis in our children for people to once again realise the wisdom of vaccination.

Living in a modern society as we do comes with certain responsibilities. In exchange for all the benefits that the society provides. Certain things are expected of us. One of those things, in my opinion, is to ensure that one is not unnecessarily contributing to the suffering of other members in the society. And in particular to ensure that the children of the society are safe, and guarded against undue suffering and preventable death. This means that we should be ensuring that our population is fully vaccinated. In this way we can prevent the suffering and death caused by vaccine preventable illness. It is the responsibility of every member of our community, in a position to do so, to unsure that this is done.

Humans are terrible at risk assessment. It is true that vaccines are not guaranteed to be 100% safe. Because nothing is. And nothing can be when it comes to medical science. But the evidence is overwhelming that the benefit form vaccination far out weights any possible negative consequences. That being the case. Many parents still opt not to vaccinate their children. They make the assessment that the risk is too high. Although I will suggest many of them take their child for a drive in the car. The child is thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a car accident than injured by a vaccine. Yet their chance of contracting a vaccine preventable illness (at present immunisation rates) is roughly comparable to death or permanent disability by motor vehicle accident.
We could reduce the accident rate on our roads dramatically if we made the speed limit 20 Km/hr. But we don't. Because we accept the risk. If you accept the risk of driving a car then it makes no sense to reject vaccination as too risky.
The inability of people to properly assess risk is a fascinating topic that I won't go into further. I think my point is made.

Vaccinations save lives and prevent suffering. The science is clear and has been tested over and over again. Who are any of us to deny this protection to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens?