{"id":718,"date":"2011-12-29T10:52:35","date_gmt":"2011-12-29T02:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klinikong.com\/?p=300"},"modified":"2011-12-29T10:52:35","modified_gmt":"2011-12-29T02:52:35","slug":"for-the-herds-sake-vaccinate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/29\/for-the-herds-sake-vaccinate\/","title":{"rendered":"For the Herd’s Sake, Vaccinate"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Hartford, Conn.<\/p>\n

I HAVE\u00a0chronic lymphocytic leukemia<\/a>. Three months ago, I underwent an allogeneic stem-cell transplant, in which my wise, 52-year-old white blood cells were replaced by bewildered, low-functioning cells from an anonymous European donor. For the next seven months or so, until those cells mature, I have a newborn\u2019simmunity<\/a>; I am prey to illnesses like\u00a0chickenpox<\/a>, the\u00a0measles<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the flu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These diseases are rarely fatal, unless you\u2019re a newborn or someone with a suppressed immune system like me. My newborn buddies and I do have some protection, however: the rest of you.<\/p>\n

Young babies, the immuno-compromised and people who get\u00a0chemotherapy<\/a>\u00a0are not able to process most\u00a0vaccinations<\/a>. Live vaccines in particular, like those for measles and chickenpox, can make us sick. But if 75 percent to 95 percent of the population around us is vaccinated for a particular disease, the rest are protected through what is called herd immunity. In other words, your\u00a0measles vaccine<\/a>\u00a0protects me against the measles.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the reasoning of Clarence, the angel from \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d: If you are vaccinated, you won\u2019t pass a disease on to someone else, who won\u2019t pass it on to six more people, and on and on. To quote Clarence, \u201cStrange, isn\u2019t it? Each man\u2019s life touches so many other lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, vaccination rates for many diseases in Europe and in areas of the United States are falling. This is partly due to Andrew Wakefield, a British doctor who published a paper, now discredited, in 1998 in The Lancet tying childhood vaccines to\u00a0autism<\/a>. Celebrities like Jim Carrey have also taken a strong antivaccine view. As a result of these unwarranted fears, childhood diseases are returning. The rate of\u00a0whooping cough<\/a>\u00a0cases has spiked over the past 20 years. In 1990, the incidence was 2 per 100,000 people; in 2000 it was 3; by last year, it had risen to nearly 10.<\/p>\n

Measles cases are also increasing. For each year between 2001 and 2008, the median number of cases in the United States was 56. In the first six months of this year alone, there were more than 150 reported cases \u2014 the most since 1996. A vast majority of those who were sickened had not been vaccinated or had uncertain vaccination histories. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, 400 to 500 Americans died of measles every year.<\/p>\n

During\u00a0last year\u2019s flu season<\/a>\u00a0there were 55,403 reported cases of influenza A and B; 116 children died of the disease. And now flu season is back.<\/p>\n

The truth is, we should not get vaccinated for ourselves alone; we should do it for one another. Having\u00a0cancer<\/a>\u00a0has taught me the value of living in a community. We assist the infirm, pay our taxes and donate to charity, and getting vaccinated \u2014 for the flu, for adult whooping cough, for\u00a0pneumonia<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 is just another important societal responsibility. After all, we\u2019re in the same herd.<\/p>\n

\n

Steven L. Weinreb, an internist who is certified in oncology and hematology, is on medical leave from his job at a private practice.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

West Hartford, Conn. I HAVE\u00a0chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Three months ago, I underwent an allogeneic stem-cell transplant, in which my wise, 52-year-old white blood cells were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[70,187,217,266,325],"class_list":["post-718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body","tag-chicken-pox","tag-immunity","tag-measles","tag-protection","tag-vaccination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klinikong.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}