What do you want me to say. I am very sad when I find out about these cases that could have been avoided with a vaccine that has been administered for more than 30 years. Measles is a viral disease that spreads easily and that, although usually cured, can cause lung complications or even brain level (pneumonia and / or encephalitis).
This is what happened to a 17 year old girl, one of those affected by a measles outbreak in Portugal that affects more than 20 people, which curiously resulted infected by a 13 month old baby who had not been vaccinated either.
The mother says she did not get vaccinated by medical indication
We cannot say much about the baby, because although most babies are vaccinated at 12 months, it may happen that the visit is delayed for certain reasons and that it ends up being put forward. But of the girl yes, and as we read in La Voz de Galicia, the mother said that if her daughter was not vaccinated it was because they had recommended not to do it when suffering from psoriasis.
It is not that we want to delve into the wound, but it is rare that a one-year-old baby (when the first dose is given) already has the diagnosis of said skin disease, and it is also not a contraindication to vaccinate, unless one is taking immunosuppressive treatment In fact, in the last hours it has been known that his sister has also had to be admitted for the same disease, measles, and he had not received any vaccinations in his childhood.
What is measles?
As we have said, measles is a very contagious viral disease, which causes high fever and a rash throughout the body, cough and conjunctivitis. If it gets complicated, it can lead to otitis, pneumonia or encephalitis.
The contagion is produced by contact with droplets that come from the nose or mouth of a person with the disease. Just a sneeze, or cough, so that these particles are spread in the air and someone else can inhale and spread.
People who have had the disease or who have been vaccinated have immunity (vaccination is the only method of disease prevention), although as with all vaccines the effectiveness is not 100% and that is why it is important that the number of vaccinated people is very high.
Until a few years ago this was so and in many countries measles was considered a totally controlled disease. However, in recent years, as vaccination rates have been reduced, and with international migration and leisure or work (travel) movements, the disease is returning in the form of outbreaks.
If there are no complications, it is a disease with a good prognosis. The problem is that sometimes there are, and that is when it can be serious. Roald Dahl, the well-known writer of children's literature, wrote a letter some time ago recommending childhood vaccines, after losing his daughter because of measles.
Mandatory vaccination against measles?
Now the debate on vaccination and on the possible obligation to vaccinate all children of this disease is in the streets of Portugal, with several groups collecting signatures to do so. This could make it come to contemplate in Parliament and that political parties had to rule on it.
And although the outbreak is not very numerous, the number of cases is greater than the total sum of the cases of the previous 10 years, and with the death of the minor, the only one in 23 years without measles deaths, it has created an alarm by being aware, everyone, that the number of parents who decide not to vaccinate their children has increased.
But, vaccines also have side effects!
Yeah right if. They are medications. They are very safe preventive treatments that, in some cases, cause complications that can be serious, especially if the child has sensitivity to any component of a vaccine. Now, what is more dangerous, vaccinating or not? Because if only a few children do not get vaccinated, the risk is very low. But if we stop vaccinating all children, the chances of disease returning in the form of outbreaks are high.
And then the possible side effects of vaccines will seem little, very little, to complications, hospital admissions and deaths for diseases that we don't even see thanks to vaccines.
Photos | iStock
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