"Tens of thousands infected in measles in Madagascar"
Madagascar, the island nation off the coast of East Africa, has been hammered by its worst measles epidemic in decades.
Summary:
Many families in Madagascar are currently being affected by what’s considered the "worst measles epidemic in decades." Although it is commonly misconceived as a small cough to begin with, it has extreme complications and dangers. Parents are traveling up to 24 hours to get medical attention and receive the vaccination, but when they finally arrive, find out it's too late and has already hit their children. It is highly contagious towards anyone who is not immune to it.
Three of Hasina Raharimandimby's children died of the measles. "You cannot always prevent death," she says, "but mothers should do all they can to protect their children."
The first effective measles vaccine was developed in the early 1960s, so this outbreak hit by surprise. Recently, though, countries like the US and France have gained a lack of understanding about measles and the rise of anti-vaccination beliefs based on phony science and social-media fueled conspiracy theories. Because of this, the vaccination coverage is decreasing worldwide. It was at less than 50% in Madagascar at the start of this outbreak, and for herd immunity to work, they believe it needs to be at around 95%. The disease has hit all over the East African country, with already over 50,000 infected and more than 300 dead since October 2018. Companies including UNICEF and the World Health Organization are beginning to reach out and make efforts to stop children from getting infected. They have set up vaccination drives to educate people on why they’re necessary and to raise the percentage of coverage. There needs to be a spread of awareness, especially in a poor country like this, that lacks education.
Reaction:
Considering that the measles outbreak can be preventable, it's shocking and upsetting to hear about such a tragedy. When reading this article, it occured to me that people need to be more educated on vaccines. Immunization rates have been dropping heavily for years now, which comes to show that people are forgetting the importance of them. And while this article focuses on the outbreak in Madagascar, it has also hit hard in other areas around the world (including a recent case in the silicon valley).
Connection to World History and/or International Relations:
This article’s topic of measles connects to our China and the Silk Road Unit when we discussed the spread of the Black Death. As we know, goods and technology were the main things carried along the silk road, but they weren't the only things. Merchants and traders also traveled with infectious diseases, such as the plague, which were spread through human interaction. Additionally, the plague resulted in an estimated 75 to 200 million deaths. The same thing is happening today in Madagascar. Measles is a highly contagious virus and spreads easily from person to person. The virus has been rapidly spreading throughout this East African country since October 2018, and there have been more than 50,00 infected and more than 300 deaths.
Questions to Consider:
1. Do you think the rise in unvaccinated children could put the public at risk?
2. What are necessary steps to prevent these outbreaks from happening?
1. Do you think the rise in unvaccinated children could put the public at risk?
2. What are necessary steps to prevent these outbreaks from happening?
3. Do you think the government should compel childhood vaccinations? Why or why not?
A rise in unvaccinated children would most definitely put the public at risk. Only if a sufficient amount of the population is immune to measles, through vaccination, will there be resistance to the spread of the viral infection. A rise in not vaccinated people will not only put the individuals at risk for measles, which is extremely contagious, since it is spread by means of the air, but also the people around them who are yet to be vaccinated, like babies, for example. The government should absolutely compel childhood vaccinations. Children need to be taught the importance of vaccination, and the facts, not the myths spread on social media or talked about through phony science. Vaccinations work, and they train your immune system so that you do not end up acquiring deadly and contagious diseases when you run into them, like Measles. What is happening in Madagascar is a perfect example of why people need to be vaccinated.
ReplyDeleteWith science and technology making tremendous advances these days it's devastating to see people die of avoidable situations. Some important steps the government can take are 1) making sure that the people of the community know the risks of not taking vaccinations and that they are educated on the process of vaccinations. Throughout most people's lives they learn various subjects such as English math and science. Along with those they should be learning about topics (such as vaccinations) that will serve as life advice and life lessons. This should help situations like these to decrease. 2) Many communities are isolated from medical services. The government should make sure that medical facilities are a top priority and accessible to everyone. These facilities would include clinics that provide vaccinations. I also believe that the government should compel childhood vaccinations. Many kids are too young to make decisions for themselves and their parents end up taking decisions for them. But when these kids grow up they may regret not getting those vaccinations. Unvaccinated kids may also put others at risk and that's unfair to people who have taken precautionary steps.
ReplyDeleteA rise in unvaccinated children will most definitely put the public at risk, and I know this as a fact because it has already happened. According to the CDC, there have been about 555 cases of measles in the US since the beginning of 2019, which already is the second-greatest number of cases in the US since measles was nearly eradicated back in 2000. The latest data we can obtain about the percentage of children 19-35 months is from 2016, where there were only 86 deaths, but the percentage was at just 91.1%, well below the 95% requirement to eradicate the disease as shown in this article. One can only assume how low the percentage must be to cause the 555 deaths this year. Herd immunity becomes more and more difficult to upkeep the less people there are immunized, and children especially are extremely susceptible to disease, so there is absolutely a public health concern when there are a lack of immunized children. If the crisis in Madagascar has taught us anything, it's that people in America are taking our vaccines for granted by not believing how much good they've done. We nearly wiped out measles and now it's back because some biased scientist with a conflict of interest released a study about how vaccines cause autism that has been debunked thousands upon thousands of times and redacted and some uneducated people keep harping on it and taking it as fact. There are thousands of people in this world who are dying because they can't get vaccines and these people are coming up with every excuse to not get them for their children even though there should be absolutely none. The US, and developed countries like it, should absolutely compel childhood vaccinations for children that can afford to have them because otherwise these completely preventable diseases will keep mutating and spreading without end. This isn't just about people's personal decisions for their children; this is about serious risks to public health and of outbreaks.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/immunize.htm
Measles was a disease that was proclaimed to be eradicated from the US. But, it has once again caused large outbreaks across the country and throughout the world. It is a highly infectious viral disease that causes one to have a high fever and large colonies of red rashes to appear on their body. Fortunately, we have been able to create vaccines, a form of treatment that makes the body stronger against a particular infection. However, the main problem is that vaccines are only effective if there is a sufficient amount of people receiving them in the community. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccinations will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years in the US. The World Health Organization states that 2-3 million lives are saved every year thanks to vaccinations and immunizations. People without a fully-working immune system, people on chemotherapy treatment whose immune system is weakened, people with HIV, newborn babies who are too young to be vaccinated, and elderly people often cannot safely receive vaccines. To protect these people from diseases like measles, a procedure known as herd immunity must be administered. However, recent federal health data has shown that the percentage of children under 2 years old who haven’t received any vaccinations has quadrupled in the last 17 years. This will definitely affect a vast majority of the public and the minority of people who can’t receive vaccinations. To prevent further outbreaks, the government should require vaccinations for all children unless they have a valid reason not to (EX: medical condition).
ReplyDeletehttp://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/herd-immunity
I had the same thoughts about herd immunity that we learned from bio class
DeleteI forgot to quote the statistics: According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, "vaccinations will prevent more than 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children born in the last 20 years in the US." The World Health Organization states that "2-3 million lives are saved every year thanks to vaccinations and immunizations." The World Health Organization defines vaccines as "biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease"
DeleteKayla LI
ReplyDeleteBy the 2000, the US official recognized that measles was eliminated as a potential illness. It was a great victory in terms of medicine and the resolution of a huge medical crisis that plagued history. However, in recent years, we've seen the number of measles cases continue to rise. This rise is largely due to the "Anti-vaccination movement" where groups of parents are advocating for others not to vaccinate their children for the fear of their child "contracting autism." Not only is this ideology heavily flawed both morally and scientifically, it disregards decades of vaccine research and evidence. In fact, there has been no linkage between vaccines and autism. Autism is a polygenetic disorder meaning that multiple genes within the DNA are not able to perform their normal functions. This abnormal cellular communication leads to several psychological symptoms. Autism is not the result of epigenetics, it is a disorder that individuals are born with. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html), the number of cases from January to April 2019 is more than the total number of cases from 2016-2018 combined. However, these outbreaks of measles are distributed worldwide. Instead, they are concentrated in several populations where the large majority of the people are not vaccinated such as Orthodox Jewish Communities in New York. Some individuals such as people affected by HIV or undergoing chemotherapy are unable to be vaccinated because their bodies do not possess and immune system. In order to prevent these these individuals from being harmed, we need to achieve something known as herd immunity. Essentially herd immunity is the idea that you must vaccinate a certain percentage of the community in order for the vaccine to work effectively. For a highly contagious disease such as measles, at least 95% of the population must be vaccinated in order to protect the 5% that are not vaccinated. It is absolutely necessary for the government to make vaccinations mandatory because unvaccinated are a threat to people who do not have a functioning immune system.
The rise in unvaccinated children are definitely posing a huge risk and putting the entire community at risk. As stated, herd immunity only works when about 95% of the community is vaccinated and protected. As this percentage declines further and further, the community is put at greater and greater risk from being harmed by the sickness. The necessary steps to prevent this outbreak from happening is to raise awareness of the importance of vaccinations. This way, the community will understand that it is essential and the majority would vaccinate. This will get the percentage of vaccinators to rise and the community will be protected. The government should definitely educate their people on the benefits of vaccinating since currently the dropping percentages of the amount of people vaccinating are showing devastating affects-- between 2007 and 2015, the hundreds of thousands of people died preventable deaths due to not vaccinating. The government will be ensuring the safety of their people and aiding them if it spreads awareness about the importance of vaccinations.
ReplyDeleteAs vaccine become a more controversial topic, more people choose not to be vaccinated. This is extremely dangerous to the public community as a whole, because unvaccinated people relies on herd immunity when a disease appears. Herd Immunity is when a high proportion of a community is immune to a disease (mostly through vaccination), thus providing a disease free environment for the unvaccinated individuals. (source: Ms. Ward and https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/herd-immunity-how-does-it-work) However, as less people are protected from the disease, the proportion is too low and all unvaccinated individuals will be infected. Measles is an extremely contagious disease, which means once someone in the community gets it, it will soon spread to everyone around. In order to prevent these outbreaks, people in every community have to be vaccinated before it’s too late. People need to be educated about what really are in vaccines and that it doesn’t cause autism. Parents also need to realize how severe the situation is, and that if the children is not vaccinated, they are much more likely to die due to measles. In my opinion, when an outbreak occurs, the government should suggest all schools to give students shots. Back in China, schools had nurse come in and provide free shots for everyone. Even though some parents refuse, most allow their kids to be protected. Some individuals do not have time or money to get their kids vaccinated. If the government make vaccinating kids at school free, more children will be protected.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a shame that kids in America are not getting vaccinated when they are in close proximity to such useful resources, while those in Madagascar are dying even though they want vaccines but do not have the access. As stated in the article, Madagascans travel many miles on foot or on bicycles with the intent of saving their children’s lives. I agree with the author’s reaction that these high death rates for children in Madagascar is tragic, considering how easy it is to prevent. This definitely speaks to the privilege children in America have. The most obvious solution to preventing further outbreaks is to require, by law, vaccinations. This would clearly pose as a problem, however, since there are very passionate anti-vaxxers in America. To prevent more anti-vaxxers from forming, we must educate the public about the extensive research and evidence that shows how vaccines are, in fact, effective, and that they do not cause autism.
ReplyDeleteThe rise of unvaccinated children will definitely put the public at risk. Hundreds of people have already died due to this disease and many more will if they do not get vaccinated. Many people are not immune to the disease which is sad because they end up catching it and dying. I think there needs to be more centers where people (children) can be vaccinated as soon as possible so the outburst does not keep growing. There needs to be a law where its monitory for people to get vaccinations so the outbreak can decrease. Many people are not getting the vaccinations needed and are dying. The government can help solve this solution by providing vaccinations for the people and they will be protected from the disease.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that this could've been preventable. It would've required convincing many about the importance of vaccinations as well as actually giving people them especially in poor countries that don't have access to it, but instead outbreaks started tragically happening. Many people have already died and this will only continue unless something changes. I think in a way this shows some of the benefits and importance of getting vaccinated that it should be required in countries like the US to get vaccinated. Organizations should also work more in vaccinated people, especially young children, in countries that can't do it themselves. Just getting vaccinated will go a long way in preventing many deaths as well as the spreading of diseases. Especially because here in the US, we do have such easy access to vaccinations that can save our lives that sometimes people in other countries just don't have access to. We should really take advantage of the accessibility to a life saving resource that is right in front of us, as well as helping those who don't have that, get access to it.
ReplyDeleteA rise in unvaccinated children can put the public at risk, and adults and kids should be more educated about vaccinations. Companies that are making an effort to stop children from getting infected are very helpful, and I think there should be more companies that can educate people about the seriousness of vaccinations. These viruses and diseases are super dangerous and unsafe. A lot of people are getting infected and dying, and it is really shocking to hear that the vaccination coverage is decreasing worldwide. The Black Death is an example of how deadly the situation is, since it resulted in millions of deaths. Therefore, if more kids gain knowledge about this, less people will be at risk of catching these diseases.
ReplyDeleteI think that the rise in unvaccinated children will put the public at risk. We already see that in the US there are many children who are unvaccinated due to their parents believing that vaccines will cause them to have health problems. But that is not true, but some people believe these fake articles and all these things on social media. As stated in the article if 95% of the population has the vaccine against measles or against any infection, that will cause herd immunity, so there may be an outbreak or two. But majority of the population will be able to protect themselves against it. One necessary step to prevent these outbreaks is to educate people about the need for vaccines and how important they are. This way, many people will understand why vaccines are needed and therefore will get them which would lead to herd immunity. I believe that the government in any country should educate their people on how important vaccines are, so many people are starting to stop getting them. As stated by The Washington Post, the percentage of children who are going unvaccinated have quadrupled since 2001(US). This is a very alarming number and should be taken seriously and this number is only going to increase. So all governments not only the US, should take measures to try and prevent this from increasing.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the above opinions, I think that vaccinations are necessary. People should be vaccinated as much as possible as there are certain individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to differences in their body where they don’t accept the vaccine or various religious reasons. This is also much more crucial for younger children as their bodies are much more susceptible to diseases, as their immune systems are still developing. Measles, along with many vaccination needing diseases, is highly contagious and not taking the vaccine for the disease will only cause others harm as well. The government, along with other health advocates, should enforce education in vaccinations from an early age. In many other countries, vaccinations and other forms of health checkup are done at school, without the parent having to worry about cost of expensive vaccinations.
ReplyDeleteThe rise in both unvaccinated children and adults definitely is creating a huge public health risk. People who cannot be vaccinated because of a disease they have are left unprotected, as carriers of any disease, such as measles, act as "pathogen factories," essentially creating the pathogens that cause unvaccinated people to get sick. People need to be properly educated on the importance of vaccines. Furthermore, the international community can help set up temporary hospitals for ill people in Madagascar to go to if they do get sick. Although I do believe in a government that gives people choice, I believe the government should require vaccinations. Again, without vaccinations, people who are physically unable to get vaccinated are put at risk. It is selfish to not get a vaccine because of a conspiracy, which ultimately could lead to someone dying.
ReplyDeleteThe spreading of measles is truly something that no one saw coming since it was declared eliminated in 2000. Due to the rising popularity in un-vaccination, many have seen an increase in those affected, and today it is estimated that over 2.6 million people die per year because of measles. Now this disease has been around forever, and has been cured before, however paired with the numerous parents choosing to not vaccinate their children, the problem has gotten increasingly more dangerous and harmful. The sad thing is that in many parts of the world, it is extremely difficult to get access to these vaccines, forcing many regions of the world to remain without the proper medical care or measles vaccines. However, here in the U.S., we CHOOSE to not vaccinate our kids, as even given the choice, we freely decide against it, harming the poor people in other countries who are less fortunate than us. I do believe that there are many necessary steps to solving the issue. First, there must be more arguments publicizing the true beneficial effects of vaccines to help refute the idea that they cause Autism or other genetic disorders. In addition, vaccines need to be made more accessible to third world countries. Finally, there needs to be more awareness of how many extreme religious beliefs in rural areas affect forms of medical care. For many, they do not believe in any medical "interference" which is yet another main cause of the measles outbreak. Thus, we should try to educate and slowly change people's views on vaccines to help create a safer, healthier mankind.
ReplyDeleteThe rise of unvaccinated children not only puts the child at risk or disease, but also the people around them. Being unvaccinated and be a cause of diseases spreading over different countries when these unvaccinated children travel or to other people in general.
ReplyDeleteProtection against people who unvaccinated either through having some sort of identification card to show your past and recent vaccinations would be a potential way to deny access to schools or travel in order to stop the spread of disease, unless for medical purposes where a patient is unable to receive vaccinations. Furthermore, educating the anti-vaccination parents will help to decrease the numbers.
It is not just for the safety of others to receive vaccinations, but receiving vaccinations should be considered a responsibility as a member of a community. There are some people that cannot be vaccinated for certain diseases and by having everyone else around them being vaccinated and immune to a disease, then they will not get the disease that they are unvaccinated for. This concept is called herd immunity. However, at too low concentrations of people without vaccinations, herd immunity is no longer in effect, putting these people at severe risk for death.
Therefore, having it be mandatory for children to receive vaccinations should be mandatory and available to people all over the world for not only the child’s safety, but for the safety of the human race as a whole.
Sources:
(https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-must-get-vaccinated-to-protect-the-people-who-cant/)
(https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/work/protection)
I think there’s no opposition to the fact that if you don’t vaccinate your children, you are putting the public at risk. Madagascar is just one example of not vaccinating your children to leads to terrible consequences and even death. So, everyone should be vaccinated to prevent a major outbreak of a known disease. But, in the United States, the healthcare system is expensive so I understand that many families can’t vaccinate their children because they cannot afford healthcare. However, in the case of families who could afford vaccinations, they should 100% vaccinate their children. Therefore, the government should compel everyone in society to vaccinate their children and even themselves if they have to. But, the government should make vaccinations cheaper or even free so that it would entice people to get vaccinated and also to help poor families afford vaccinations so that the society will become immune to past diseases to prevent another outbreak.
ReplyDeleteThe increase in unvaccinated children is sure to put the public at risk. Only when a sufficient number of people are immunized against measles through a vaccination will we be resistant to the spread of viral infections and with the increase in unvaccinated children and people not only exposes more people to the risk of measles, which can be transmitted through the air and is also unvaccinated, such as infants. The government should definitely force vaccination of children. Children and parents should be informed about the importance of vaccination, because majority of cases the parent is the one who does not allow them to get vaccinated because of myths spread on social media or through false science. Vaccinations are effective. What happened in Madagascar is a great example to show the people and general public the dangers of being unvaccinated.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the increase of unvaccinated children puts them and their families at risk. This idea spread through conspiracy theories and social networks is incredibly harmful to the children of the world, and causes deaths like the ones occurring in Madagascar. I believe that while governments might not want to force their citizens to get vaccinated, they should do their very best to educate their citizens on the risk they are taking in avoiding life saving vaccinations like ones for Polio and Measles. Media that argues against vaccines are essentially negative propaganda like we have seen in past units, except that I cannot see any positive benefit for any party spreading the rumors. Since families in Madagascar had to travel so far to obtain the vaccine, it is clear that the government needs to ask for aid in making it more accessible. Citizens should have a semi-convenient way of getting all of their basic medical needs. Other countries should look at Madagascar as an example and make sure they get the help they need to help their citizens stay healthy, and not spread disease.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the increase of unvaccinated children puts them and their families at risk, but I also think it’s just as risky and dangerous on a larger scale, like to the public. As children go around day to day, they’re endangering the lives of all of the people surroundinng. And we’re seeing this more and more everywhere around the world, which is why there has been so many recent outbreaks. (Another example: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/02/24/unvaccinated-boy-measles-costa-rica-first-case-5-years/2973582002/) I understand what you’re thinking about the government not wanting to force their citizens to vaccinate, however I think it’s something that has to be compelled. Herd immunity will only be successful if there is a sufficient amount of people immune to the disease. If continued at these incredibly high non vaccination rates, diseases like Polio and Measles will continue to come back. So therefore, I believe that the only way these diseases will stay away for good is if there’s a stricter policy on requiring vaccinations.
DeleteThe increase of unvaccinated children is and will continue to put the public at risk. Vaccinations are necessary in all societies. They were created to hopefully put an end to deadly diseases, thus it seems imperative to get them. The increase of propaganda being spread by "Anti-Vaxxers" or those against vaccinations, is twisting and manipulating data to spread false information about vaccinations. We have all probably seen or heard the idea "that vaccinations cause autism". According to the CDC, "Since 2003, there have been nine CDC-funded or conducted studies that have found no link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD, as well as no link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and ASD in children" (cdc.gov). In the wake of this outbreak in Madagascar, it is crazy to think a disease that was deemed as "eradicated" in the early-2000s, is now making a comeback because of a small group in society making, ultimately selfish decisions. I believe everyone who can receive a vaccination should get one, as there are some in society for serious health reasons can not. As citizens of the world, it is our duty to help and protect others, not harm them. Vaccinations should be made a priority in all countries, especially developing nations. With few healthcare services in poorer countries, these outbreaks can be detrimental. Thus by getting vaccinations in the first place, we can hopefully prevent any more of these cases.
ReplyDeleteI think that the government should encourage parents to vaccinate their children. Since the children are being hit with the disease too late, there is no chance of saving them. It's a better idea to vaccinate the children preemptively, so that they can fight off the measles. If the government doesn't make this public statement, parents might never know that their children's lives are in danger. Parents might not be educated enough to understand the importance of vaccines given to their children. It's not a big deal if the government steps in and it this issue can be resolved with the right precautions. First, get all the disinfected people in a safe space to set up camp. Leave doctors with the infected who can try their best to save as many lives as possible. Keeping the infected people far away from others will stop the measles from spreading. Maybe after a couple months, the disease will dissipate and families can move back to their previous homes. 50,000 dead already is a scary high number, and taking action now is the best way to fight the disease.
ReplyDeleteThe unfortunate rise in unvaccinated children would guarantee to put the public at risk. Even if a majority of a population is vaccinated and therefore protected from measles, there is still a population that can be affected. This includes people who either can’t take vaccines or extremely young children, hence why herd immunity is a thing. Without enough to support herd immunity, these people, which include our future, would die off. Necessary steps to prevent these outbreaks from happening would be simple, forced vaccinations to those eligible, and some segment of health or any appropriate class earlier into a child’s life time for them to be educated. Continuing off of the last question’s answer, yes the government should compel childhood vaccinations. Children are the future of humanity, a
ReplyDeleteIt is a undoubtable fact that unvaccinated children puts the public at risk without question. This is already shown with the measles outbreak on the news recently. Obviously the necessary steps to prevent these outbreaks from happening is to take vaccines!!! If you do not take vaccines, you will get sick, and in my opinion, “antivaxxers” are making a really idiotic decision. Vaccines do not cause autism, and I find it interesting that antivaxxers would rather expose and let their child get possibly killed by a fatal disease such as measles then have their kid living with autism. Finally, I think the government most obviously should make vaccinations mandatory (It is mandatory to attend public schools, and everyone who attended Aragon must’ve had vaccines) as it protects people from getting killed by fatal diseases and prevents outbreaks in general. Not only this, but vaccines can kill off the last of the pathogen/virus, like measles, which was declared completely gone from the US about a decade ago, just to return because of antivaxxers.
ReplyDeleteThere is no question that the more children that are unvaccinated, the higher the public risk of measles, and other infections/viruses. This is because it increases the number of people who are sick, and therefore, it increases the chance a person has of catching what they have. If parents decide to keep their child from being vaccinated, then they're not only hurting themselves, they're putting others lives at risk. To stop this from happening, I believe the government needs to promote the use of vaccinations much more. I rarely hear about this topic, and that needs to change. If people start to hear about the benefits of doing this and the effects of not doing it, AND see that the majority of the population agree, then they will want to do it as well.
ReplyDeleteObviously the unvaccinated children will be a strong factor in the spread of measles. The children can't build up strength against this disease. In order to prevent this from happening again they need to vaccinate children so they can become immune to the disease. They need to clean public facilities and ensure that their way of life becomes more hygienic. They need to educate their citizens on these diseases and how to prevent the spread. The government should force vaccinations because they can not take risks for their peoples' safety and just hope that the people vaccinate themselves. Especially after a devastating scenario like this.
ReplyDeleteI think having a sharp rise in unvaccinated children could put the public at risk as it can spread very commonly among schools and other public areas. Having no immunity to the virus allows outbreaks like this to happen. Some necessary steps that should be used to prevent these outbreaks is to promote the use of vaccinations and to prove that the information antivax people use is false and misleading. The government should compel childhood vaccinations as it is necessary to survive as a younger baby so you can maintain healthy and avoid any diseases that you could get. This is what's best for the safety of babies to prevent diseases that we have already cured in the past.
ReplyDeleteThese unvaccinated children are definitely putting the public at risk because it is exposing everyone to diseases, such as measles, that wouldn't be an issue otherwise. The government should require these vaccinations because it is a public health issue! The solution to stop outbreaks is the ensure that all children are vaccinated. According to the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, vaccinations have allowed diseases to be reduced by more than 90%. An estimated 20 million cases of diseases have been prevented because of vaccinations. Measles is considered to be one of the most contagious vaccine-preventable diseases. When children are not vaccinated against it, it creates a high risk for everyone else in their lives. It is crucial for these children to be vaccinated to save both their own lives, and the lives of the people in their community. Basically, vaccinations exist to save lives. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5402432/
ReplyDelete-Grace Callan
DeleteWith the recent rise of anti-vaxx parents not wanting to vaccinate their kids, more people who cannot be vaccinated are put at risk. Herd immunity protects people can’t be vaccinated because of health conditions or age restrictions. So, the more children without necessary shots, the more likely highly infectious diseases will spread to people who can’t help but not be vaccinated. Parents should inform themselves better when deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children. Of course, there may be religious exemptions from yearly shots, but education on how autism is not caused by vaccinations may benefit the well being of the public. With the recent outbreaks, governments should step up and use their social influence to advise people help protect people more prone to disease. -Kayla Shiao
ReplyDeleteI think the unvaccinated children put a major risk to the public. With the measles being so contagious it can be unclear how wide spread this epidemic is and what problems it poses for people. Preventing this outbreak is hard but it's not impossible, the first step is to contain the spread of measles. Starting with getting kids educated and vaccinated to prevent more people from getting measles. Many organizations have been trying to help out but the real help comes from government. The government must educate the public about this problem if anythings going to get done, the people need to learn that vaccinations are helpful and can help this problem. I still don't think government can compel vaccinations on children, government should not get involved in medical situations, that relies on the doctors professional opinion. If government forces vaccinations it could easily backfire and cause people to be scared more than helped by vaccinations.
ReplyDeleteThe government should definitely compel vaccinations because of the risk unvaccinated people have on the public. Measles are highly contagious and most people do not have an immunity to them, making it very easy to spread to and harm many people. It is the governments duty to not only make sure there isn't a panic, but provide for the people and give them what they need to survive. Measles can be very dangerous especially in an outbreak described by this article, and without taking the proper measures it will become very devastating. I think the government should provide more vaccinations to people so they do not have to travel so far just to make sure they and their kids are going to survive the epidemic. I also believe they should spread awareness to other countries that have had a part of the lack of preparedness Madagascar has for the epidemic. If Madagascar does not have the right resources to provide aid, others need to step in for the safety of those people and others they might come in contact with and infect. Measles is such a contagious disease that I think more people should get involved in order to help. overall, I think the government needs to help them more and make sure they are making this situation a priority. They have to protect their people and by giving them the medication and help they need, will benefit so many people.
ReplyDeleteTo prevent these outbreaks from happening specifically in Madagascar, first and foremost, vaccinate the children. Given that Madagascar is a poor country and was only able to vaccinate “58 percent of the population” against measles in 2017, I think the standardization of a vaccination program can help prevent these outbreaks (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-madagascar-measles/nearly-1000-madagascar-children-dead-of-measles-since-october-who-idUSKCN1Q3246). But the fact that
ReplyDelete2019 has had the largest measles outbreak since 2000 in the US is alarming because these outbreaks usually do not occur in highly developed countries. NPR reports that “some organizations there are deliberately spreading ,’inaccurate and misleading information about vaccines’” leading to outbreaks that occur in unvaccinated communities (https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716953746/cdc-reports-largest-u-s-measles-outbreak-since-year-2000). This clearly shows that delivering proper information about vaccines to the public should be emphasized by the govt. and that parents should make sure that they have the correct information about vaccines so they can prevent these outbreaks.
I think when it comes to things like disease, it’s a hard area to convince people to act on anything if they don’t understand the potential future that the lack of vaccinations could cause. I think when there are epidemics like this, we need to educate the public which would help convince the people into getting their children vaccinated. The reason that convincing people of following certain procedures to follow is they may not believe the epidemic is real, don’t believe in medical help, or don’t completely understand the reality of the disease. I think requiring the vaccination would be a good idea especially because it seems that the outbreak is increasing at a pretty fast rate.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I think that the rise of unvaccinated children will put the public at risk. Children who interact with their friends, who interact with their family, who interact with colleagues or partners will just lead to the complete manifestation of measles. Some necessary steps to prevent these outbreaks are to made vaccinations mandatory for every person. With the measles vaccination they will be less susceptible to the disease. The government should compel vaccinations because without being vaccinated, measles will spread quickly and there would not be any way to prevent the spreading. People are more vulnerable to the disease and if the government does not help provide vaccinations then the civilians around the area of the measles outbreak will ultimately spread the disease, like the Black Death, to their death.
ReplyDeleteUnvaccinated children are not only putting themselves at a risk, but they are also putting others around them in danger. Therefore, although vaccines are not mandatory, schools should at least have the right to refuse unvaccinated students because of the high risk that they pose to others, and many other public areas can do the same. I feel that it is necessary for the government to compel childhood vaccinations since they not doing so will cause certain extreme cases such as this one. The main problem in this outbreak is that many families are having very limited access to these vaccinations and the true importance of them. So, the community should obviously spread more awareness about vaccinations with vaccine drives and emphasize doctor recommendations. Additionally, some families cannot vaccinate their children because they do not have enough money to, so the government should cover the entire cost of all necessary vaccinations.
ReplyDeleteA rise in unvaccinated kids would absolutely put the public at risk. The lower the immunity of the community and people, the higher the risk of there being a outbreak. While 50% of the population could be immune, the other 50% could be hit extremely hard by the disease at question which would hurt society overall. Unfortunately, many families are unable to afford the expensive costs of lifetime vaccines because of the necessity of paying for things like food and electricity. Vaccines are an extremely valuable and helpful thing but they are also extremely pricy, these prices are definitely what cause families to not get them, along with the false ideas spread about them. While it would be very easy to have the government give everyone vaccines and make them accessible to everyone, this is a lot easier said than done. Vaccines are extremely expensive and the companies producing them undoubtedly are trying to make money off of them, so making them a requirement for people would result in these companies losing money. I absolutely do feel that the government should push vaccinations very, very hard because the higher the rate of people who have them, the more immune society as a whole will be to such diseases, which can prevent devastating outbreaks like the one in Madagascar.
ReplyDeleteIndeed I believe that the rise in unvaccinated children does put the public at risk. In AP Bio we learned about why vaccines are sop important. Not only does it help the individual getting the vaccine by helping to strengthen their immune system, but it is also extremely important to herd immunity. Herd immunity is essentially when enough people are immune to a disease that the disease is unable to spread in a population. This is extremely important for people that are unable to vaccinate because they depend on the rest of the population not being infected, that way they will not become infected themselves.
ReplyDeleteYes, having unvaccinated kids affects the other vaccinated kids. Verywellhealth.com talks about herd immunity and how if majority of a population is vaccinated, then it’s less likely for anyone to get sick, even unvaccinated people. (https://www.verywellhealth.com/who-is-at-risk-from-unvaccinated-kids-2634420) Additionally, having unvaccinated kids can make kids who are vaccinated more susceptible to being infected. Making the choice to not vaccinate your kid puts kids who are vaccinated in harm’s way. To prevent outbreaks from happening, I believe all kids should be vaccinated. If you’re allergic to the vaccines, that’s one thing. Even then, it’s pretty unlikely you’re allergic to all vaccines. In this day an age, people should be looking above phony science reports and just see what’s going on. Especially with airborne diseases such as measles, it’s more important than ever for kids to get vaccinated to prevent and stop the spread of measles. I think the government should require vaccines because the few parents that aren’t vaccinating their kids are making the choice for the entire world not to be vaccinated because they are putting whole populations at risk for fatal, and pretty easily avoidable, diseases.
ReplyDeleteOf course the rise of vaccinated children puts others at risk. A reason that people get vaccinations is to protect others who can't take the vaccine for health reasons or have weaker immune systems from contracting illnesses and diseases. The necessary step to prevent outbreaks is for the populace to get vaccinated. The main issue is that in countries such as the US, people have forgotten about how dangerous some diseases are or are just being ignorant towards how important vaccines are. Vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective and people who are against vaccines often don't vaccinate because or irresponsible personal feelings or to put themselves in a situation where they feel like they have a moral high ground because they are "going against the norm."
ReplyDeleteYes a decrease in vaccination could cause many problems one being an outbreak like this could occur another being that more people become anti-vax since they are influenced by the people around them. The best way to prevent outbreaks like this is for the entire population to be vaccinated. So to increase the vaccination rate again, people must be educated and these conspiracy theories must be debunked, since being unsure about a drug can cause people to not take it. Another way to ensure vaccination is to make it mandatory however that could cause protest and demonstrations since the "anti-vax" population might feel as if their rights have been taken away.
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