22/08/2019
This is Dottie.
Dottie is four and a half months old.
She is up to date with all her vaccinations.
Since she was 8 weeks old, she’s had vaccinations for Diptheria, Hepatitis B, Haemophilius Influenza Type B, Polio, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus, Meningitis B & C and Haemophilius Influenzae.
Do you know what she hasn’t yet been vaccinated against?
Measles.
Why?
Because she’s too young.
At less than 6 - 12 months of age, she still has a supply of maternal antibodies from when she was in my uterus.
Whilst these antibodies aren’t strong enough to prevent her catching measles, they do interfere with the efficacy of the vaccine, hence why we give it at around a year.
There are two things that she relies on to prevent her catching measles.
Antibodies from my milk (which are not guaranteed).
And herd immunity.
Herd immunity requires enough people to get vaccinated that, in effect, they become a little immunity wall that protects both themselves and those who can’t be vaccinated.
However, since bloody Wakefield and his ridiculous, unfounded and tampered research, the take up rates for the combined MMR vaccine have been steadily declining.
In 2017, the UK achieved WHO measles elimination status.
This meant that we had so few reports of the disease that it wasn’t able to spread.
We had just 284 cases in 2017.
Now, because of anti - vaccine propaganda and general ignorance, we’ve just lost that status.
In 2018, we had 991 cases of measles.
This is disgraceful, and really very concerning.
Measles, especially in babies, can be extremely dangerous.
Along with the usual symptoms (fever, rash etc), measles can cause various complications, which are ever more serious in babies.
These include :-
Diarrhoea.
Vomiting.
Bronchitis.
Pneumonia.
Meningitis.
Encephalitis.
Not nice, not pleasant and potentially life-threatening.
And they can be prevented by a vaccine regime.
That little girl in the picture is entirely dependant on you to keep her safe.
Not me.
I’ve done my bit, I’ve given her everything I can.
But herd immunity is only something a whole community can achieve - together.
I could go well into the anti-vaccine rhetoric, but I know I’d be wasting my breath.
The information is there.
It’s free.
You just have to look for it.
Andrew Wakefield’s link between the MMR vaccine and autism has been debunked over and over again.
Vaccines DO NOT cause autism.
Vaccines are safe.
Yes, some people have reactions, as can be expected from any kind of medical treatment.
But these are usually mild.
Serious complications are incredibly rare.
And the diseases are statistically much more dangerous than the vaccines are.
Mercury in vaccines was never shown to have any detrimental effect on anything.
But it’s now been removed from childhood vaccines anyway.
Anyone frightened by “live” vaccines needs to speak to a health professional who has the time to explain that these live ones have been tampered with to make them weaker.
Live vaccines are only dangerous to immunocompromised people, not healthy children.
So.
If you are one of those people who hasn’t vaccinated their child, I want you to think about this.
Not only are you putting your child at risk, you are also putting every single child under the age of one at risk too.
If you take them to playgroup, to school, to the supermarket, you are playing roulette with anyone who has a baby.
Do you think that is acceptable?
Because I do not.
Not vaccinating is not just a parental choice.
Your own child has a right to immunity that trumps your own fears and ignorance.
And my, and everyone else’s, baby has a right not to die from measles complications, just because you *chose* not to vaccinate.
Many a person has written “if my kid can’t bring nuts to school, yours can’t bring a notifiable disease”.
Well, they’ve got a point.
Nuts aren’t dangerous to most kids, just like measles isn’t that dangerous to most kids.
But, to some, they could be fatal....
If you live in a community, you should behave like you deserve to be a part of that community.
And that includes looking after others as well as yourself.
Because of people’s ignorance and selfishness, my little girl is now at risk from a disease that she didn’t need to be.
All those countless children fighting cancer now have an extra fear to add to their list.
All those children who can’t be vaccinated, aren’t protected anymore by those that can.
If you haven’t vaccinated your child, and you have no medical reason not to, you’ve just helped bring back a disease that we’d just gotten rid of.
If your child dies because of your foolishness, then you are a disgrace.
But causing the death of someone else’s child, when they’ve been a good parent, when they’ve done everything right, is disgusting.
As harsh as it sounds, if you don’t fulfil your obligations to help protect our children, our community, then you don’t deserve to be a part of it.
Ignorance is not an excuse.
