Measles

Measles: to vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

This article discusses the fall and rise of measles in the United States. Measles is a very contagious respiratory illness. Some symptoms are high fever, rash/spots, and runny nose. The complications of measles are what make this infection so deadly. They include pneumonia, ear infections and encephalitis (Young). Just 12 years ago, in 2000 there were no cases of measles in the US. However in 2011 there were 222 cases of measles and 17 outbreaks. (Young) Some families choose against the shots for many reasons. Some believe that these shots lead to autism, but this link has not been scientifically proven.

When helping parents choose whether or not to give their children the MMR vaccine health educators have an ethical obligation to give the parents both sides of the argument, this is stated in Article I Section 1 of the Code of Ethics for Health Educators (Cottrell, pg. 351). They should inform the parents that although this disease had been eliminated from the US, it is starting to grow back because so many parents are not giving their children the shots. This demonstrates Article I Section 2 and 4 (Cottrell, pg. 351). Measles are very much like the chicken pox in terms of contagiousness. However at least to children, chicken pox is not deadly. But while advising parents, health educators must also take into account Section 8 of Article 1, that the parents may not want to vaccinate their children for different reasons (Cottrell, pg. 351).

Measles cases reach 15-year high in 2011

References:

Cottrell, R. R., Girvan, J. T., McKenzie, J. F. (2012, April 19). Principles and Foundations of Health xxxPromotion and Education (5th Ed.).  San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings. 

Young, Saundra. (2012). “Measles cases reach 15-year high in 2011.” Retrieved from xxxhttp://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/19/measles-cases-reached-15-year-high-in-2011/?hpt=he_c2