The current measles epidemic across North America has led even some anti-vaccine politicians to change their opinions. In the U.S., Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems to be mentioning immunization, even if not wholeheartedly endorsing it. In Alberta, even Premier Danielle Smith and Health Minister Adriana LaGrange have called for vaccination.
We can only hope this will make a difference, given that some areas of Alberta have vaccination rates as low as 25 per cent of children; to prevent spread, we need at least 95 per cent vaccination rates.
Mark Joffe, the previous Alberta chief Public Health Medical Officer, recently wrote a widely circulated article describing just how severe measles often is, and encouraged vaccination.
But it is not just measles. The vaccine generally used is MMRV, which stands for Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella. The vaccine protects children from all these diseases in one injection. Many have forgotten how serious these infections can be because we have not seen them for many years. I am reminded every day.
I am deaf in one ear following mumps as a child. You might think this is trivial; after all, everyone has two ears. But one-sided deafness has caused trouble all my life. I have no sense of sound direction so I cannot immediately locate where it comes from: I must look around for the source.
The consequences range from trivial to serious. I am unsafe riding a bicycle because I must look to find where a warning bell or horn comes from. I could not sit at the back of the class with my friends: I had to sit at the front. I cannot be in the centre of a group – I miss half of what is said unless I move to the left side. Then I still miss what is said on the other side. I chose not to learn scuba diving, fearing any loss of hearing in my remaining ear. Bird watching is impossible because I cannot look to see where the sound comes from. I cannot locate my phone if I put it down.
The only time this disability has been useful was when my number was chosen for army conscription. Failing the hearing test excluded me since I would not be able to locate the enemy. After all, only the fittest are good enough to be shot at.
Measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox are viral infections spread through respiratory secretions: coughing and sneezing especially. As the virus multiplies in the upper respiratory system, the person is infectious for a few days before fever, illness and other characteristic features develop. Before immunization, these diseases occurred every few years among pre-school and school-aged children. Now, with immunization of varying proportions of the population, the intervals between epidemics are longer, and they affect older children, adolescents and young adults, who often have more complications.
The only time this disability has been useful was when my number was chosen for army conscription.
Mumps causes inflammation of salivary glands to produce classic swelling of the face, but also of the testes and ovaries, causing sterility. And it causes encephalitis – brain swelling – in up to a quarter of sufferers. Some get pancreatitis: inflammation of the pancreas, causing severe abdominal pain. Epidemics can occur among non-immunized young adults, for example in university residences and military recruit camps.
Rubella, also known as German Measles, is usually thought of as a less severe illness, but it can cause similar neurological problems. Worse, if a pregnant woman is infected in early pregnancy, there is a 25 per cent risk her baby may miscarry, or get congenital rubella syndrome: which causes blindness, deafness and heart malformations. As vaccination rates drop, such cases will increase.
Varicella, or chickenpox, is also thought of as a “minor” illness but can be severe especially in adults. It can also cause neurological complications. One is shingles, in which the virus recurs some years afterward, inflaming a band of skin along a segmental nerve. The worst attacks occur in old age, often with severe pain and sometimes affecting an eye, causing blindness. Sometimes the pain persists for years, and relief is difficult.
Between them, these diseases cause many major illnesses that are now effectively optional. Why would any caring parent deny protection to their children?
The combined vaccine is effective and very safe. Around 10 per cent of children get a feverish illness after immunization. A few more severe but transient effects such as febrile fits are reported, but at much lower rates than the complications of any of these diseases. So, immunizing reduces risk enormously. Being unimmunized while hoping enough others will be immune to prevent epidemics is a foolish decision. If a non-immune person travels to parts of the world where the diseases are present, that person likely will get much more severe disease, with higher risk of complications.
At the least, if a child is unimmunized, they will get these diseases and must stay away from school for weeks each time and a parent will need to stay home to care for them. Even worse, those who refuse the MMRV immunization often refuse other immunizations: polio, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) pneumococcal disease, rotavirus and hepatitis. These can cause major illness with long-lasting complications. They are less common diseases right now but likely will increase in areas where few are vaccinated.
I am happy that my children and grandchildren have been immunized and do not have to cope with even “minor” problems like my deafness. If children in your family are not immunized, they are at risk of these complications. How would you feel if they suffer life-long disability unnecessarily?
