Measles Outbreak: Some Differing Views
In Michelle Fox’s article, Expect measles outbreak to continue, says doctor, Dr. William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, says that the outbreak will continue for some time because there is a sufficient number of unvaccinated children to continue the spread of measles. According to the CDC, there have been 84 cases of measles and 67 of those have been linked to the outbreak at Disney. Dr. Schaffner also reiterates that measles can be brought to the United States from overseas. If someone from another country comes here with measles and is around unvaccinated children, there is potential to spread the disease. Today, February 1, 2015, CDC Director Tom Frieden said “the U.S.…show more content… One of my friends is anti-vaccination and has a daughter under 12 months. His fear is that the ingredients in the vaccines are more harmful than the disease that is to be prevented. He believes that there is a link to autism from vaccinations and that they are not good for us. I asked him where he got his information from because I am curious as to why he holds this belief. He was emphatic that the rise in rates of autism and allergies is due to vaccination and that we are not being told what is really in the vaccines. I asked him if he worried about his daughter getting one of these diseases that could kill her. There was a long pause and he told me that no one had ever put it to him in that light. I told him that there is more scientific evidence from reputable sources to prove that autism, allergies and vaccines are not linked. We had a long discussion about the measles outbreak and I found it interesting that he blames those parents that chose not to get their child(ren) vaccinated and yet he does not believe that his choice with his daughter is the “same thing”. I asked him why he blamed those parents and still refused to vaccinate his daughter. He never answered me outright so I just dropped it. I asked him how he would feel if he learned that his unvaccinated child spread a disease to a younger baby and that baby died as