The article emphasizes that the scariest aspect of measles is its potential to induce immune amnesia, severely compromising a person's ability to combat subsequent infections. Throughout history, measles was responsible for a substantial number of childhood deaths from infectious diseases, peaking in the early 20th century. Vaccination campaigns have dramatically reduced these fatalities, leading to improved childhood survival rates globally. The author critiques current health leadership dismissing the importance of vaccines, highlighting the lives saved by measles vaccinations, which continues to play a vital role in public health.
The true danger of measles lies not in direct death tolls, but in its capacity to cause immune amnesia, weakening children's defenses against future infections.
Before mass vaccination, measles was implicated in as many as half of all childhood deaths from infectious diseases, despite its low direct mortality rate.
In the past, 90 percent of American children contracted measles, leading to around 6,000 deaths annually at the turn of the 20th century.
Measles eradication efforts have been linked to a 60 percent improvement in global childhood survival rates, underscoring the vaccine's critical role in public health.
Collection
[
|
...
]