I have faith in science. I trust my medical professionals. I don’t succumb to conspiracy theories. I believe in vaccines.
I spent ten years volunteering with pediatric bone marrow transplant patients. They ranged in age from just a few months to 17. All of those kids had immune systems so compromised that they could not get vaccinations. Their parents were hyper vigilant, and literally the sniffles could escalate to something deadly. Imagine what exposure to measles or pertussis could do to those innocent children. I have friends undergoing chemotherapy. I have friends whose children are too young to be vaccinated. I have friends whose own children are immunosuppressed due to illness or ongoing treatment for a chronic ailment. They cannot be vaccinated, yet they stand at our healthy mercy and rely on herd immunity. We are their only shot.
My father in law had polio as a child. I only knew him wheelchair bound. I speak to civic groups frequently about my work with Shot@Life. Most of the people in the audience are elderly and speak poignantly about a time when diseases like measles and rubella were rampant. Almost every person knows someone who had measles, polio, pertussis. And almost everyone knows a child who died from those diseases before they were preventable. I’ve also traveled to Uganda to witness family health days, providing AIDS screening, prenatal care, heart and blood pressure monitoring, and vaccinations to families who walked five kilometers or more for access to health care. I was born in India, a country that has just eradicated polio. I am grateful to have been born to parents who had the means to immunize me. All of these audiences would be in awe of the great vaccination debate happening in America today. They don’t have the luxury to not vaccinate, or the reality of life before vaccines is too real to even contemplate taking the risk. The reward is health. The risk is everything but. And these audiences know firsthand what I hope to never experience.
That’s why I vaccinate my children. That’s why I’m an outspoken advocate for Shot@Life.
North Carolina, where I live, was faced with a measles outbreak recently. The current outbreak has hit 14 states…and counting, I’m afraid. These diseases are literally a plane ride away. No hyperbole. Truth. We are traveling to India this spring, the first trip for my husband and sons. We wouldn’t dream of boarding a plane without up-to-date vaccines, required or not.
- Worldwide measles vaccination has resulted in a 75% drop in measles deaths (between 2000 and 2013). Remember those folks in developing countries I just mentioned…this is no small feat.
- I am talking about countries where mothers do not have the luxury of choice and the benefits of herd immunity. Without these vaccines, their children would die, and often parents have witnessed the death of so many of their children under the age of five that they will walk for miles for their child to be vaccinated. Some families don’t even name their child under after the fifth birthday because the fear and reality of death loom so large. Stew on that for a moment. I saw this firsthand. I don’t have adequate words to even describe the experience.
- In 2013, there were 145,700 measles deaths globally. That is 400 deaths every day or 16 deaths every hour. Most measles-related deaths are due to complications from the disease, especially in children under the age of 5 who live in health systems weakened by poverty and poor infrastructure.
- The fact is 1 in 5 children are dying before the age of 5 from vaccine preventable diseases, and we have the power to help. Scratch that, we have the duty to help.
I believe in the greater good. I believe in science. It seems to me that the people who stand tall on their soapbox about personal rights stand to harm more than help. Gun rights and vaccine deniers. It’s no measly thing to scoff at.