I suffer from mild annoyance at the general public for misinterpretation of scientific issues and evidence. Ignorance is a disease that is steadily growing in the UK if not the world. Don't get me wrong, I don't use the word ignorance lightly or arrogantly, I will be the first to admit I am ignorant of many things, even though I strive to correct this. There are just too many things to know in the world for such a small life time. However, we can always endeavour to learn the facts of issues we are interested in, in order to make sound judgment. The point at which my mild annoyance turns to anger is when people ignorant of the truth make judgments that put not only their lives but also the lives of others at risk.
Recently, the occurrence of measles outbreaks in the UK has rocketed with nine children in Brighten diagnosed with this potentially fatal, extremely infectious disease in the last couple of weeks. The MMR vaccine controversy was widely reported, and with it the huge body of evidence that suggested there is no link between MMR and autism. Yet through misinterpretation and ignorance, some of the public are refusing to inoculate their children based on this claim. I understand the confusion over the subject, the initial health scare was the outcome of a great scientific misconduct that should never have been published. However, the scientific consensus has been for a long time, that there is no evidence to link MMR to autism, based on the numerous epidemiological studies now reported.
Perhaps it is the media? Giving an unfair bias to the more interesting story, although I doubt this, as it was a Sunday times journalist that revealed the author of the paper to have certain misgivings... In any case information is so free and easy to obtain these days, it's easy to view multiple pieces of evidence on the Internet.. that's if you choose to of course. What I believe is more damaging and actually quite startling, is that many mothers are making decisions on their child's health care through hear say and whispers from other mothers. This cascading effect of 'someone said something 10yrs ago' has resulted in steady outbreaks not just in the UK but throughout the world in the past decade. Even more disturbing is the effect on children too young to receive the vaccination yet still vulnerable to the disease. This situation was reported in Brighton and Hove in which very young children have contracted the disease from older children who have not received the vaccination. One of the mothers of such a child said ' these mothers are playing Russian Roulette with their children's lives' but it seems not just their children, the whole community could be at risk.
I find myself thinking, do these people not understand how damaging these diseases are? Realising the cruel irony that in fact it is probably our amazing health care that has shielded them from the possible seriousness of these diseases. If we look at Africa the seriousness is clear to see, measles is one of the leading causes of child death, where for example Malawi's measles incidence rate per 100,000 total population is 490.8 compared to that of the UK 0.64 (WHO, 2010). I am reminded of a comment made by an Immunology lecture of mine, in which he described the reaction of one of his fellow Doctors born and working in Zimbabwe. He was shocked that parents in the UK were denying this potentially lifesaving vaccination to their children when it was so accessible. In Zimbabwe vaccination is rare and cases often prove fatal, the facts are plain to see with a 78% drop in measeals incidence 2000-2008 as a result of increased vaccinations worldwide.
I'm not sure how the situation can change in the UK, perhaps the exposure of parents to the consequences of no vaccination should be made more apparent in the media and by the NHS. Yet I fear these situations will only change once parents come face to face with the consequences of these diseases- pneumonia and encephalitis to name a few, but by then it is too late. When accurate information is so accessible, yet parents continue to make judgements that effect their children's health on hear say, I'm left thinking what an earth has happened to our sense of rationality? Will people really believe everything they hear?....
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