Got Science? Vaccinating Ourselves Against Misinformation

It is dismaying that fears and misinformation about vaccines have led the scourge of measles to return in the United States some 15 years after it had been officially eradicated here. And it's especially discouraging to see some early 2016 presidential hopefuls such as Chris Christie and Rand Paul pander on the issue rather than taking a strong evidence-based stance because the facts could not be more clear: Vaccines are safe and they save lives. One of the tragic aspects of this story is that some of the 102 measles cases so far this year in the United States have struck children under a year old who are too young to receive vaccinations. These infants are helpless against the virus, which is carried primarily by children whose parents have endangered them and those around them by failing to vaccinate. The vulnerability of these infants alone should be enough to underscore the public health imperative at stake. In this case, however, the spread of a wholly preventable disease is directly related to the dissemination of misinformation which, especially in our era, can often spread much like a contagious virus itself. Resounding Scientific Success The irony, of course, is that you would be hard pressed to find a scientific success as resounding and robust as vaccination programs around the world. Since the British physician Edward Jenner discovered a vaccine for smallpox 200 years ago, immunization can be credited with saving more lives than practically any other public h...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news