Sep 04 (IPS) – Measles infections are on the rise, with epidemiologists reporting a threefold increase in the number of large or destructive outbreaks over the past three years. It is one of the most contagious diseases we know. The virus spreads through respiratory droplets. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, it can remain in the air for up to two hours and infect up to 10 other people who are not immune.
Of the 136,000 estimated to have died from measles in 2022, most were children under the age of 5. Any death is a tragedy, but it is even more tragic when it could have been prevented with a safe and effective vaccine.
As a pediatrician, I am proud to be involved in vaccines because of their impact on public health. Vaccination has accounted for 40% of the reduction in infant mortality worldwide and is one of the most remarkable achievements in modern medicine.
Measles vaccination alone has prevented 57 million deaths since 2000. But this success depends not only on developing an effective vaccine; it also has to be accessible to everyone.
Having grown up in Colombia, where vaccines were not widely available or accessible, and having gone to medical school there, I have unfortunately seen children get sick and die from vaccine-preventable diseases. I had one myself as a child. So every time a child gets a vaccine, I celebrate (but they don’t).
But not all parents have this background, and for those who don’t, I understand how scary it can be to make decisions that affect your child’s health.
My work on vaccine safety also provides insight into the research behind these shots. All vaccines undergo rigorous testing in clinical trials, are monitored for adverse effects, and are subject to strict regulatory standards. There is also rigorous safety surveillance and data monitoring by national health authorities in each country, as well as by drug developers.
For vaccines, safety and reactivity are closely monitored. Reactivity is the characteristic of vaccines that usually cause mild, naturally occurring, short-term side effects, such as pain at the injection site, fever, or fatigue, which are immune responses.
We ask clinical trial participants to report on a daily basis whether they experienced these symptoms, how long they lasted, and how severe they were. This information helps us to know what to expect from future vaccine recipients. If the reactions are too high and unacceptable, it may be a reason to stop the clinical trial and reassess what needs to be changed to continue developing the vaccine.
In terms of safety, any adverse events that occur in participants during the trial will be carefully evaluated and analyzed to determine which of these events are related to the vaccine. Participants will be asked to report any signs and symptoms they may have experienced during the trial, whether they believe they are related to the vaccine or not.
Typically, trials involve participants who receive the actual vaccine and those who receive a placebo. This means that the study is “blinded,” meaning that participants, trial staff, and researchers do not know who received the vaccine or the placebo until the data are evaluated. This allows for better determination of whether side effects are related to the vaccine.
Worldwide, three-quarters of all children under the age of two have received both doses of the measles vaccine, which is at least 95% needed to prevent outbreaks. What’s worse is that about 14.5 million children have never received the vaccine.
There are many reasons for this, including poor communities lacking access to adequate health care and migrants being forced out of their homes. It’s not just people who are skeptical about the value of vaccines. But these individuals had the choice to protect their children and their communities, and they didn’t.
The risks are clear, and not just for measles. Wild poliovirus infections have fallen 99% since 1988, from 350,000 cases to just six in 2021.
But the disease is not yet gone. The vaccination rate is good, averaging 83%, but it is not very good because the geographical gap is too large for a highly contagious disease that can cause irreversible paralysis.
Pertussis is another infectious infection with a high mortality rate among infants, but it has not been tracked as diligently. The last year for which WHO has complete data was 2018, when more than 151,000 infections were catalogued. By 2023, about 84% of infants worldwide will have received the recommended three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) vaccine, but low-income countries lag behind rich countries in immunizing their children.
When you care for the health and well-being of a child, you care for the future of the entire community. And when that child can grow and learn without the threat of disease, the future of the child and the community is significantly improved. That is our goal.
The decision of every parent to vaccinate their child plays a role in all programs and initiatives that make the decision accessible and effective. Achieving herd immunity is paramount. When most people are immunized, the disease cannot spread in the community. Only high vaccination rates can make this future possible.
Daniela Ramirez SchrempfDr. Gates is the medical director of drug safety surveillance at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Institute.
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal Source: Inter Press Service
