I was immunized to measles, mumps, and rubella prior to attending kindergarten, back in the 1960s. I’m now in my 50s and have never had to fight any of those three diseases. I thank my parents for believing in scientific knowledge and following the wise suggestions of the health care system and government. Millions of people in economically struggling countries walk miles to get this protection, while in the U.S., more and more citizens staunchly refuse that right due to misinformation, paranoia, and narrow-mindedness.
As I read of the growing number of cases of measles in Clark County, I keep waiting for someone in authority to suggest tightening regulations about vaccine exemptions. I hear a deafening silence. We have one of the lowest percentages of immunized children in the United States because we have a very generous attitude about who must get the vaccination. Right now we are endangering the lives of those children who are too young to be immunized, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems.
When will our government decide it’s time to treat measles as the serious, sometimes fatal disease that it is? I will be contacting my representatives and Gov. Jay Inslee; I hope others will join me.
