We recently posted an urgent message about measles and talked about these key points:

• Measles is extremely contagious
• Measles, though thought of as a harmless childhood illness, can be deadly
• Measles can, will, and is right now roaring back because of dropping use of immunization.

Now Europe reports truly tragic news.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/22/measles-rise-europe-populism-andrew-wakefield

For the year 2018, they now report 41,000 people in Europe have been infected with measles, that is double the number of cases seen in an epidemic 2017.

Most sadly, the measles epidemic in Europe has led to the actual death of 37 people, twice as many dead as in the epidemic year of 2017.

For the 37 people, children and adults, who are now dead, it is beyond imagining that they would be alive today if Europe had maintained its immunization program against measles.  That’s 37 people.  And that’s just for half of this year, the numbers are sure to climb.

News reports detail that politics is taking lives.  That some political parties, for all sorts of odd reasons, have lined up against immunizations, dropping national immunization rates, and leading to these very needless deaths.

BOTTOM LINES

1. The continent of Europe is in the grip of a historic, raging epidemic of measles, rates are right now double for cases and deaths from the epidemic year of 2017.
2. The epidemic rests any doubt that immunization protects people from getting measles, and if enough people cease immunizing for measles, that community will suffer the ravages of an epidemic of measles.
3. In Europe in 2018, right now, 37 people, adults and children, are no longer alive simply because someone decided to not immunize against measles.
4.  Our community in the US, in Ohio, in Cleveland, is no different than communities in Europe.  If our rate of immunizing for measles drops further, we will experience epidemics of measles (we had one in Disneyland recently) and people who should be expecting a long, good life, will end their early for no very good reason.

Feelings run strong on the issue of immunizations.  Sometimes in times of strong feeling, facts can be calming and clarifying.  The reports from Europe answer a simple question, would the world be really better off if we simply dropped immunizing?  

To your health,
Dr. Arthur Lavin