Via The Guardian, an opinion piece: How vaccine denialism in the West is causing measles outbreaks in Brazil. Excerpt:
In many ways, Brazil is a model for how national vaccination programs can work, and how vaccines can accelerate a country's development, health and growth. The country's implementation of widespread affordable vaccinations, coupled with an expanding public health system, caused infant mortality to plummet and contributed to a higher standard of living, a healthier populace and a more robust economy.
But today, Brazilian pubic health officials are newly concerned that some of the richest, most developed nations on the planet threaten their success.
According to Dr Homma, the World Cup is particularly troubling – the influx of tourists, he said, may bring with it unvaccinated Americans and Europeans, putting Brazilians at risk. Brazil hasn't experienced a measles outbreak in more than a decade and the Americas consider the disease eradicated – but with half a million new visitors coming into Brazil for the June sporting events, the Pan American Health Organization and the WHO approved an emergency plan to combat potential outbreaks.
The most frightening impact of vaccine denialism is the simple fact that when we are able to cross borders with ease and access information from around the globe, it's much easer to spread both deadly diseases and bad ideas.
The anti-vaccine contingent – whose most recent celebrity proponent is Alicia Silverstone – that argues vaccines can negatively affect children, and in some cases, even go so far as to say vaccines cause autism, largely has the privilege of living in places where many deadly communicable illnesses are rare. This means that even the unvaccinated children of anti-vaxxers have a pretty good chance of never contracting the diseases for which they eschew the shots – because of the herd immunity brought on by the same vaccines these adults oppose. That's a luxury not afforded to parents and children in much of the world.
According to the WHO, vaccination prevents between two and three million deaths every year. Vaccines protect those who are immunized, but also infants too little for vaccinations, immune-compromised folks such as those undergoing certain cancer treatments, and those who are resistant to immunizations. You can also help the 22 million kids who lack access to vaccinations worldwide get the basic shots they need by giving to the Gavi Alliance.
Plus, next week is World Immunization Week – so there's no better time to stick it to the Jenny McCarthys of the globe by making sure that your own stickings (and your kids') are up to date.