Measles a Risk for the Unvaccinated
Original article from Sentinel & Enterprise by Rick Sobey November 20, 2018
LOWELL — One local child contracting measles is alarming enough.
Now another area individual, with no known link to the child, getting diagnosed with the highly-contagious disease makes it a downright disconcerting trend.
So why is this happening in the Lowell area?
Infectious-disease experts say that a rising number of parents failing to vaccinate their children — for vaccine-preventable viruses, such as measles — are putting their kids at risk.
The “great myth” that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is tied to autism keeps getting perpetuated, says Valerie King, a clinical associate professor in UMass Lowell’s Solomont School of Nursing who coordinates UMass Lowell’s graduate nurse practitioner program.
There is zero scientific evidence that the vaccine is tied to autism, King stressed. But some celebrities have latched on to the myth, causing some parents to steer clear of vaccinating their children.
Measles, a highly-contagious respiratory infection, gets imported to America from time-to-time when an individual hasn’t been immunized.
“The more we can immunize people, the better we can prevent outbreaks in the community,” said King, who also works as a nurse practitioner in family practice. “It’s scary. It is scary.”
Her sister, born in 1955, lost 25 percent of her hearing as a side-effect of measles.
“A lot of us growing up had viral infections, but we’ve done so much better with vaccines,” she said.