A recent outbreak of measles in Disneyland stirred up the old debate for and against vaccination. The fracas turned even more heated when it was reported that unvaccinated guests caused of the outbreak. It set one side against the other, once again.
Are the measles so bad? This airborne, highly infectious disease presents with a high fever and discernible red dots that start on the face and spread down through the body. In most cases, in developed countries with healthy food and medical care, the infirmed fare fine. Although the modern world recoils at the thought of contracting the disease, classic television shows presented a more realistic view. This was before propaganda from pharmaceutical companies weighed in.
The only shame associated with measles, according to the Donna Reed Show, was that it was a kid’s disease. In fact, Donna urged her pediatrician husband Carl to allow their son Jeff to stay at home and recuperate, rather than in a drafty hotel room. Both Donna and Carl had contracted measles as youths, making them immune to the disease. The Brady Bunch children relished that they caught the disease. When not relaxing in bed with comic books, they played board games together. Wilma Flinstone and Betty Rubble cried when they caught the disease. It meant that they couldn’t compete in a local cooking competition, not that they’d suffer any lasting effects from the disease. Ultimately all three programs show that catching measles was no big deal.
Did pharmacy companies hocking vaccines change the way people reacted to normal childhood diseases? What we see today seems tantamount to bullying the unvaccinated into injecting their loved ones with foreign bodies. Left to itself, the virus runs its course and the affected return to normal life after a week or more. Complications such as permanent brain damage or death are rare in developed countries.
This covert bullying urges parents to get their children vaccinated or keep them away from everyone else. In fact, one blog calls parents who decline vaccinations entitled know-nothings, educated in the school of Google, clinging to the rhetoric of high-profile anti-vaccine doctors such as Dr. Bob Sears and Dr. Jay Gordon.
That isn’t always the case. Some parents have religious objections to vaccinations. Others object on the grounds that human tissue from abortions may have been involved in the development of those vaccinations. More believe, as evidenced in classic television shows, that the body has the ability to repair itself without any outside help. They appreciate that Doctors Sear and Gordon take a stand against the medical establishment in favor of alternative ways to heal diseases.
Of the seven children who contracted the disease, six were unvaccinated. Three other adults got the disease. One was vaccinated, one partially vaccinated and the other fully vaccinated. At last report, the number of cases climbed to 17, and the number may continue to rise. Short of quarantining individuals in the manner of the Ebola outbreak, parents can do plenty to keep their unvaccinated children free of the disease.
An Echinacea and Goldenseal tincture is reported to support the immune system, possibly preventing the virus from attacking. The liberal use of black seed oil, said to be able to cure everything except death, is a nice supplement. Homeopathic remedies include Morbillinum, which supposedly prevents complications and speeds up healing, and sulphur, which alleviates itching. Children who don’t take vitamin A have been found more susceptible, and those deficient in the supplement may be more likely to contract measles. Whatever a person’s approach, and whether in favor of or opposed to vaccinations, fear and panic are the least appropriate and productive responses.
By Danielle Branch
Sources:
Dr.Weil
ScienceBasedMedicine
Alive
Image courtesy of Sanofi Pasteur – Flickr License
Jeanette Smith