Studies have shown that the reasons for anti-vaccine sentiment run deep, and scientific facts don’t often matter. A new study drills deeper into reasons for resistance and possible ways to counteract them.
The vaccine coverage needed for herd immunity varies from disease to disease.
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When a certain percentage of a population has been vaccinated, it prevents an infectious disease from spreading. But that threshold depends on the disease.
Measles is contagious three or four days before a rash appears on the skin, making it highly communicable.
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Seven to 10 days in bed with a high fever and rash is the best outcome you can expect if your child catches measles. Brain damage or death is the worst.
Dr Joseph Sempa of SACEMA presenting at the 2019 Clinic on Meaningful Modelling of Epidemiological Data.
AIMS-South Africa
The threat posed by measles is on the rise again in a number of countries in the world. One of them is the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If you’re going overseas with your little one, you can vaccinate them against measles early. But they’ll still need their regular jab when they turn one.
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Babies are normally vaccinated against measles at 12 months old. But doctors are now suggesting having the shot as early as six months might be worthwhile for youngsters traveling overseas.
Two women sell roadside refreshments in rural Kano in 2011.
Shobana Shankar
Shobana Shankar, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)
Nigeria’s highly mobilized efforts to eliminate polio, and even tackle measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases along the way, may have lessons for the US.
If a Canadian health-care professional believes that an adolescent is a mature minor and has not been vaccinated, they are legally and ethically obliged to provide them with information about vaccination.
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In Canada, the age of consent for health-care decisions is assessed on a case-by-case basis. It can be age 14, or sometimes even younger.
Terry Roark holds a photo of her son, Thomas, at the state Capitol in Sacramento, California, April 24, 2019, to voice opposition to a bill that would allow state health officials more say in vaccine exemptions.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo
As measles cases surge, people blame parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. A sociologist who has studied public health says anti-vaxxers may not be so different from the rest of us.
The majority of people in Australia who haven’t had all the vaccinations they need are adults.
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There are many reasons adults might not be up to date with the vaccinations they need. Catching up is easy enough, and vitally important in the fight against infectious diseases.
A risk analysis could offer insight into the anti-vaccination decision of some parents.
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Paediatrician, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance; Clinical Lecturer, Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney
Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, and Professor of Neurology, University of Liverpool