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I’ve been a pediatrician for over 30 years, and I’ve never seen so much confusion and fear about routine vaccines as I do right now.
In 1998, a fraudulent paper was published suggesting a relationship between the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and autism. The paper was retracted in 2010, and the doctor who pushed it lost his license.
To my knowledge no vaccine has been studied as much as the MMR. There is no causal connection between it and autism.
I thought we had put that rumor to bed years ago. Instead, the idea that the MMR vaccine may be even more dangerous than measles, the primary disease it targets, is being discussed by our nation’s Health and Human Services secretary.
Now I’m having parents refuse the MMR vaccine at their child’s one-year physical because they’ve heard it has side effects.
As a pediatrician, this is immensely frustrating — and potentially tragic.
It seems like the only thing that will convince some of my patients’ parents of the importance of routine vaccines is the inevitable death and destruction that measles brings to an unvaccinated population of children.
Measles is the most contagious virus in humans. During a recent outbreak where I practice in Gresham, Ore., we were reminded that it can float in the air and survive on surfaces for two hours after a child with measles is in a room, even if they don’t yet have the rash.
If an unvaccinated child is exposed to the measles virus, the risk for infection is very high (it’s 90% for household and institutional contacts). It spreads like wildfire in an unvaccinated population.
Worse, in one out of 1,000 cases of measles the virus crosses the blood-brain barrier and infects the child’s brain. In those cases, the child either dies, or is left irreversibly brain-damaged by measles encephalitis, with no prospect of a normal life.
There’s no way to predict which child suffers this horrific complication — it’s not the sickly kids; it’s just completely random.
Given how devastating measles encephalitis is, one in 1,000 is truly terrible odds. It’s a chance I haven’t been willing to take with my own children, or with my patients (if their parents will listen to me).
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have had certain perspectives and beliefs as a layperson prior to joining this administration — but as the head of HHS, all Americans are depending on him to represent the best level of available scientific evidence on this and all other health concerns.
Just a week ago, I was so encouraged to see his opinion article on the Fox News website, saying that the recent measles outbreak in Texas is a call to action for us all.
He convincingly stated the truth: that the MMR vaccine is crucial to avoiding this potentially deadly disease.
It was so persuasive that I’ve actually gotten a couple of families to give their child the vaccine after showing them that article. I have it bookmarked!
So I’m frustrated to hear reports that Kennedy, in a Tuesday interview, implied that the MMR vaccine is as dangerous as actually getting measles.
The risk of a significant side effect from the MMR vaccine is tiny — it is estimated to be 1 in 1,000,000. In 30 years I’ve never had a patient have a reaction to the MMR vaccine beyond a sore leg or arm, and occasionally a mild fever a week or two later.
When it’s a choice between one in a million and one in a thousand, I know which odds I’m taking. Our health officials should, too.
Julia Mason, MD, is a practicing pediatrician and children’s health advocate.