Preventable Measles outbreaks - vaccinations are essential to health

Echo opinion column published in the Oklahoma newspaper Tulsa World

Bruce Dart Tulsa Oklahoma Health Department executive director: Measles outbreaks are 100 percent preventable

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, thanks to widespread vaccination campaigns. 

Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine

Unfortunately, however, right now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are tracking three measles outbreaks in this country, with the majority of those cases occurring in children who were not vaccinated.

Eliminate misinformation about the safety of vaccines 

This discussion is not about whom to blame for these outbreaks but to address misinformation on social media. 

Sophisticated campaigns have scared many well-meaning parents who want the best for their children but don’t know what to do. Other parents simply choose not to vaccinate. Outbreaks of childhood disease like measles do not have to happen. They are 100 percent preventable.

The decision to vaccinate is important because childhood diseases, like measles, are not benign. Before we had routine vaccinations in the U.S. there were 400-500 deaths from measles every year and close to 50,000 hospitalizations. About 4,000 of these cases experienced measles encephalitis, which is a swelling of the brain that can lead to permanent damage, including deafness. If you’re susceptible and you haven’t been vaccinated, you can be in a room two hours after somebody with measles left and still be exposed and get this airborne. One person with measles can infect up to 90 percent of individuals who are susceptible around them.

All parents want to do what is best for their children. I’m a parent, and one of the best ways to protect your children is to make sure they have all of their vaccinations. Regardless of what one might read or hear on social media sites, the vaccine is safe, effective and affordable. Additionally, there is no evidence that spreading out or delaying the timing of a child’s vaccinations has any tangible benefit. Misinformation about vaccines also contributes to anxiety, and sorting truth from fiction isn’t always easy. The misconception that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism has lingered in some parents’ minds for more than a decade despite more than a dozen studies showing no link between the two. Vaccines have never contained methyl-mercury — a toxic metal that can accumulate in the body and cause brain damage. Before 2001, some vaccines contained thimerosal — a safe preservative made of ethyl-mercury. And even then, to prevent confusion, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered that it be removed from childhood vaccines.

Vaccines do have risks, but we need to put those risks in perspective. Vaccinating children to protect them against life-threatening diseases can cause mild, short-term side effects such as redness and swelling at the injection site, fever and rash. Serious side effects following vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare. The disease-prevention benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children. The CDC estimates that the risk of a serious allergic reaction from any vaccine is one in 1 million doses.

The decision to vaccinate should not be taken lightly, but it might help to know that vaccines are recommended and given to children after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors and health care professionals. Vaccines will involve some mild discomfort and may cause pain, redness or tenderness at the injection site, but this is minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent.

At the Tulsa Health Department, we want to empower parents with the information they need to choose confidently to vaccinate their children. Our nurses take the time to speak to every parent about the immunizations their child needs and work to ensure each child is up to date on his or her immunizations. It’s not easy being a parent, but we want to make decisions about vaccinations easy for everyone.

For more information about the importance of infant immunization, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html.


To find a Tulsa Health Department immunization clinic near you, please visit www.tulsa-health.org/locations.


Bruce Dart is Tulsa Health Department executive director.