Combatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Anti-vaccine texts frequently contain long lists of scary-sounding ingredients in vaccines, similar to what we see for highly processed foods. Thimerosal (ethyl mercury used as a preservative) attracted the most attention. Thimerosal is no longer used in childhood vaccines in Canada.
The anti-vaccine literature is deeply skeptical about the profit-making motivations of pharmaceutical companies and often mentions past disasters such as the thalidomide scandal that saw thousands of children born with shortened limbs.
While this is not the only example of inadequate safety testing of new drugs, it is clear that the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, used since the early 1970s, has a long safety record and has played a vital role in reducing deaths and illness from the measles in Canada and abroad.
Anti-vaccine literature also stressed that there were natural ways of building immunity that could take the place of vaccination. We see this today with claims by United States Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy claims that poor eating habits are behind the spread of measles in the U.S. This is extremely dangerous. Even the healthiest, best-fed child can get extremely sick with the measles. Not all parents can afford nutritious food. And some children can’t be vaccinated because of medical conditions, leaving them extremely vulnerable.
Tragedies of the Past
Anti-vaccine parents see vaccines as one of the dangers of our modern, polluted world, and worry that vaccines might have risks that have not yet been recognized. While there are risks with any medical technology, the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the possible dangers.
A century ago, parents mourned the gruesome deaths of children with diphtheria, which caused a membrane to form across the child’s throat, slowly strangling them to death.
Mortality from the measles declined in the first half of the 20th century, but in 1945, there was still one measles death for every 100,000 people in Ontario.
Parents today have little memory of these tragedies, but sadly, they could return. Indeed, a powerful article recently published in the Atlantic Monthly profiled a father who had just lost his six-year-old child to the measles.
Along with scholars like sociologist Jennifer Reich, who has studied contemporary anti-vaccine parents, we see anti-vaccination sentiment as part of a larger societal trend towards individualism. Parents think about what’s best for their own child, rather than thinking about what’s best for their community.
At a time when Canadians are bonding together to fight the tariff threat from the U.S., it would be wonderful if we could also come together to fight the scourge of infectious diseases, including measles. The best way to do this is vaccination.
Catherine Carstairs is Professor, Department of History, University of Guelph. Kathryn Hughes is Research assistant, Department of History, University of Guelph. This article is published courtesy of The Conversation.
