The Council on Foreign Relations released an interactive map in October 2011, and it gained a lot of attention earlier this week. The map is regularly updated and shows worldwide vaccine-preventable outbreaks from
2008-2014.
There are a few important things to note about the map. The
red dots represent measles, and it’s covered the United Kingdom and is showing
up in the United States as well. Mumps (dark green dots) are also completely
covering the United Kingdom, and showing up in the United States; both of these
are part of the MMR vaccine.
Whooping cough (bright green dots) has really only been a problem in the
United States, and there is quite a bit of it.
Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times wrote an article
about the map, and commented:
“The lesson of all this is that
vaccination is not an individual choice to be made by a parent for his or her
own offspring. It’s a public health issue, because the diseases contracted by
unvaccinated children are a threat to the community. That’s what public health
is all about, and an overly tolerant approach to non-medical exemptions – and
publicity given to anti-vaccination charlatans like Wakefield and McCarthy by
heedless promoters like, sadly, Katie Couric, affect us all.”
The map highlights the imperative need for parents to
vaccinate their children. All parents should consult their pediatrician when
making vaccination decisions that will impact public health.
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