Last week was a reminder of the importance of vaccinations. Maybe it's because people think I have pertussis with a terrible relentless cough over the past two weeks...but no, I thankfully have been diligent about getting my pertussis booster. The TB cough monitors around the hospital have been keeping a close eye on me, so apparently that's going to be next on the work-up. Anyhow, this week brought me several patients with measles in sick child clinic. Insistent that the mzungu see his child, one father carried his limp, ill son over to me for care. With a fever, injected eyes, runny nose, spots in his mouth, and a rash spreading from the head down to his chest, I was reminded of the 4 C's of measles (cough, coryza, conjunctivitis, and Koplik spots - I know the last one doesn't start with a C, annoying huh?). He was weak and having difficulty breathing as he had developed pneumonia from the illness. Having never seen measles in the US, I was struck by how sick these children can get. It is estimated that measles kills about 175,000 children each year, including 18,000 each year in Kenya. This is especially sad given the availability of an effective vaccine that prevents children from getting such deadly diseases.
Within the same day, I received an e-mail alert about managing a measles outbreak in Indiana. Vaccinate your children Indiana! No child deserves to suffer or die from such preventable illnesses. And let's not even get into the myth about MMR causing autism. There is a lot of good scientific evidence debunking this myth as well as evidence of fraud regarding the original perpetuator of this myth, Andrew Wakefield. If depite the evidence, some are still convinced we are harming children with this vaccine, I invite you to come here and see just what suffering can result from the lack of vaccines.
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