So far, the ongoing measles outbreak across this country and this state has not reached epidemic status. If it ever does, and if large numbers of unvaccinated children die, blame will be easy to assess.
Some, of course, will accrue to President Trump, who last year bought out the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with a promise to make the nation’s leading anti-vaccine crusader his secretary of Health and Human Services.
It’s too soon to attribute the current spate of measles cases strictly to RFK Jr.’s position, although he has used his new bully pulpit to make spurious claims about the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine that until recently had seemed to relegate those diseases to what Ronald Reagan called the “dustbin of history.”
In one Fox News interview, Kennedy, who because of his lineage has always carried a metaphorical megaphone, made a show of encouraging MMR vaccinations, but simultaneously suggested natural immunity acquired though infection could be more protective than vaccine-produced immunity – and never mind risks from the diseases themselves – including death. Kennedy’s stance contradicts long established medical evidence, but that is nothing new for him.
RFK Jr. next threatened to fire all the government’s top experts on infectious diseases and their spread.
Kennedy long claimed routine childhood vaccinations are responsible for large increases in diagnoses of autism, a claim refuted in numerous medical journals. Another reason for questioning Kennedy’s autism claims: childhood vaccinations have been in mass use since the 1950s, complete with state laws requiring vaccinations prior to public school attendance. Increases in autism incidence are far more recent.
This year has seen measles cases turn up in many states, Texas leading with 400 cases as of March 28. Texas also saw one of the two measles deaths in America this year, those two deaths marking the first in this nation since 2015. It’s valid to wonder how the parents of those two children feel about Kennedy’s claims of natural immunity being superior to vaccine effects, which offer individuals a 97 percent protection rate even where there is no “herd immunity.”
It’s also valid to note Texas has among the loosest state laws on childhood vaccinations, granting exemptions to any child whose parent claims to have a personal or religious objection. No proof of prior belief is required.
California’s rules have been tighter since 2015, religious objections no longer accepted. But medical exemptions can be granted here when a doctor certifies a child has medical problems with vaccines.
This rule has been exploited by a few doctors who oppose vaccination, some signing forms after only cursory exams and often with little knowledge of a child’s background.
Now some counties no longer boast what is termed “herd immunity,” a vaccination rate assuring virtually no cases of a targeted disease will occur. This is usually achieved with vaccination rates topping 95 percent for some diseases and needing to be even higher with others. For the MMR vaccine, even though the statewide rate for full vaccination among schoolchildren (two doses each) stood at 96.2 percent last winter, 16 counties did not achieve herd immunity during the current school year.
Subsequently, cases of measles have been reported over the last year in large counties like Alameda, Orange and Los Angeles, and in smaller ones like Tuolumne and Sutter.
Among the fully vaccinated, 97 percent will not experience the high fevers and rashes of measles. But where levels fall below herd immunity, death rates can reach one to three persons for every 1,000 infected, reports the University of Chicago. Measles also can cause encephalitis, with associated pneumonia, long-term neurological problems, hearing loss and even brain damage.
Local health officials say much of the drop in vaccination rates in counties like Santa Cruz (down from 94.1 percent to 91.8 percent over the last two years) stems from misinformation, much coming from the Children’s Health Defense group long headed by Kennedy.
He left that group before Trump named him America’s top health official, but there is no evidence his beliefs have changed.
The bottom line: If the measles outbreak worsens, much responsibility will accrue to Trump and Kennedy.
Email Thomas Elias at [email protected]. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It,” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
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