The New York Times on 2/12/19 had an excellent editorial on measles. They noted that the U.S. was measles free in 2000. Then Dr. Andrew Wakefield in England came up with the false claim that autism could result from vaccinations. He subsequently had his British license revoked and is now in Texas. He met with Trump after the election.
Because so many parents have decided to not vaccinate their children, we now have had several new outbreaks of measles. So far 500 children have died from this disease. Many more have had bad problems with it. I do not understand how any parents could allow their children to possibly have measles encephalitis or other serious complications. When my daughter was in kindergarten in Rochester, New York, before we had a measles vaccine, a doctor's wife brought her ill son to Jennifer's classroom. Of the 22 children in the class, only two escaped being infected by the virus he carried. Jennifer had a very bad time and I stayed with her the many days she was ill. The virus is very infectious and can cause great damage to a child. It must be hard for a doctor to have parents who will not vaccinate their children. I would not be able to take care of children like this were I still in private pediatric practice. Not only can measles cause great damage, but so can mumps, whooping cough, and other childhood diseases. One of my muscular dystrophy patients became deaf from mumps. It was before the vaccine was available and I know his parents would have had him vaccinated had the vaccine been available. Polio still is found in a few countries and it hurts me terribly to know that polio could happen to U.S. children with the rapid airplane travel from these countries and the decrease of immunizations in the U.S.
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