Measles Outbreaks And School Inoculations: Should You Get Yourself Vaccinated Again?
School inoculations keep the population safe from diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella, that once ran rampant among the population. Students who receive school inoculations are protected against these diseases, even if an outbreak occurs. As a small percentage of the population has made the decision not to vaccinate their children, there has been an increase in the number of measles cases seen in recent years. While this doesn't seem like much of a big deal to most people, this can become epidemic if the spread of such common diseases is not stopped. Adults who received vaccinations as a child may no longer be protected, and could be at risk if measles becomes widespread.
Testing For Titers
If you work in the healthcare field, you will want to consider work vaccinations to keep yourself safe. A simple blood test can check to see if you still have titers in your system that indicate you are still protected from common diseases like measles. If your titer is positive, you don't have to get any work vaccinations. If your titer is negative, your body is no longer showing any proof that you were ever vaccinated. Getting work vaccinations will keep your protected in the event someone comes in who is a carrier of a disease.
Measles Was Eradicated More Than Two Decades Ago
The federal government called measles eradicated more than twenty years ago, yet an outbreak has been occurring in a number of states throughout the United States. In 2018, Michigan saw 19 cases of measles, with the majority of the patients not having received a vaccination in the first place. For a group of individuals to be immune from any disease, 95% of the population must be inoculated against the disease. As more parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children, the disease, among others, will have a chance to spread.
Why Parents Aren't Vaccinating
There has been speculation that vaccinations are directly related to autism, and some parents believe vaccinations cause autism. The onset of autism symptoms and the time of vaccinations is generally the same, but there is no evidence that there is a cause and effect. It is a coincidence, and it is dangerous to not provide your children with the safe vaccinations that exist today.
To protect you and your family against measles and other diseases, get your children school inoculations as scheduled. They are safe and certainly better than contracting measles or another serious disease.
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