Since the beginning of 2019, the Centers for Disease Control or CDC, have confirmed 555 cases of measles across 20 states. In comparison, there were 382 cases in all of 2018 and just 120 back in 2017. Five years ago, there were 667 confirmed cases. In their latest report, the CDC admits that measles cases are actually coming from international travelers. "These outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought measles back from other countries such as Israel, Ukraine, and the Philippines, where large measles outbreaks are occurring," says the CDC.
In early April, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency over a cluster of reported measles cases in the Orthodox Jewish community. The emergency order demanded that all un-vaccinated residents within four zip codes take a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. Violators face imprisonment and fines up to 1,000 dollars. The order includes children as young as six months, even though the MMR package insert states that the vaccine is not recommended for anyone under twelve months of age.
This brings up various questions on vaccination ethics: should the government micromanage benign illnesses in the first place? Should governments have the power to track down people, coerce them with fines and threats of imprisonment, to inject them against their will, all based on the presumption that Merck's vaccine works for everyone? Is vaccination really the answer in all this? Or at least, shouldn't the parents decide for themselves if augmenting part of their child's immune system and damaging their cell-mediated immunity is the right way to handle a benign illness like measles?
The MMR vaccine contains a live attenuated measles virus that is grown in WI-38 and MRC-5 cell strains, which are self-replicating culture mediums derived from 2 to 4-month old aborted fetal lung cells. After the virus is cultured and replicated in the aborted fetal cells, it is retrieved and processed for use in the combination vaccine. Upon injection, this antigen is intended to augment an immune response from the individual. An aluminum adjuvant is added to the vaccine to further incite an immune response, while adding to the vaccine's toxicity. Upon injection, T-helper-2 cells respond to the artificial infection, increasing the body's production of B-cell antibodies.
According to studies on antibody levels in the vaccinated versus the un-vaccinated, naturally acquired immunity is more effective for preventing disease over the long haul, and this also helps build stronger herd immunity in a population. People today should also thank their mothers for passing on passive immunity through breast milk antibodies. Vitamin A has also been studied to shorten the duration and severity of measles infection. In a dose-dependent manner, vitamin A prevented measles complications, including croup, diarrhea, and death by pneumonia. If the government is going to micromanage disease, then they can mandate vitamin A and halt international travelers who are coming from outbreak-stricken areas.
Measles infection is typically a benign illness that begins with a fever and ends with a rash. After natural infection, an individual gains lifelong immunity because their humoral antibody response and intra-cellular cytotoxic T-cell response have learned to target measles viruses both outside and inside the cells.
The measles death rate dropped considerably before a vaccine was introduced, so it's hard to say whether the vaccine was the savior even as measles fatality continued to fall after the vaccine was employed. If anything, people today should thank their ancestors for facing benign illnesses like measles, mumps, and rubella. If the government is going to micromanage disease, then they can mandate vitamin A and halt international travelers who are coming from outbreak-stricken areas.
