HEALTH AND MEDICINE

One map sums up the damage caused by theanti-vaccination movementJanuary 24, 2014 | by Lisa Winter

photo credit: Council on Foreign Relations

Vaccinations are one of the of most incredible aspects of modern medicine. They can makepreviously lethal diseases disappear from society and save countless lives. There is,however, a chance that the vaccines work a little too well and our collective memory is tooshort to remember the devastating effects some of these diseases caused just a few shortdecades ago. Recently, for reasons that are not based on science or logic, many parentshave outspokenly rejected vaccinating their children. Unfortunately, this has caused areemergence of easily managed diseases. The Council on Foreign Relations has released aninteractive map detailing the catastrophic outcome of these poor choices.

The interactive map gives a gut-wrenching tour of global outbreaks of measles, mumps,rubella, polio, and whooping cough from 2008-2014. These diseases -- all of which areeasily prevented by vaccines -- can have dire consequences. The CDC estimates that164,000 people around the world will die from measles each year, and it is experiencingquite a resurgence in the UK. The United States has recently seen a drastic increase inwhooping cough, which causes around 195,000 deaths per year. The majority of thesedeaths occur in impoverished regions with very little access to vaccines. In the case ofdeveloped areas like the US or UK, they shouldn’t be happening at all.

But how did it all begin?

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield released a paper claiming to have linked the measles, mumps,and rubella (MMR) vaccine to the onset of autism. No other scientist was ever able to matchWakefield’s findings, and in the coming years, it became known that Wakefield had a

chemistry

technology

Choose your poison

Editor's Blog

Environment

Technology

Space

Health and Medicine

The Brain

Plants and Animals

Physics

Chemistry

email sign up

POPULAR POSTS

Powdered Alcohol ComingTo The US

Glow-in-the-Dark RoadsNow a Reality

Kepler Team AnnouncesDiscovery of Earth-Sized

Search by keyword find

One map sums up the damage caused by the anti-vaccination m... http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-map-sums...

1 of 4 4/28/14, 7:26 AM

health and medicine

Lab Grown Skin CouldAid Our UnderstandingOf Skin Disorders

health and medicine

Gene Therapy BoostsDeaf Guinea Pigs’Cochlear Implants

health and medicine

Novel Treatment MayProvide Broad ProtectionAgainst Flu Viruses

health and medicine

Mutations Found In 115Year Old Woman's BloodCould Help UnlockSecrets Of Aging

financial conflict of interest. In 2010, an ethics review board found that he had falsified thedata in his report, causing an immediate retraction of his original paper and revocation of hismedical license. Despite the fact most scientists opposed Wakefield’s “findings” from thestart, some were all too eager to jump on the anti-MMR bandwagon.

Among those leading the charge against vaccines is Jenny McCarthy, the Playboy Bunny-turned-pseudoscience advocate. McCarthy began speaking out against vaccines in 2007,as she believed they caused her son’s autism. Based on her son’s symptoms, some believethe boy actually has Landau-Kleffner syndrome. She has written a few books (including onewith a foreword by Wakefield himself) continually claiming that vaccines cause autism andthat she cured her son’s disorder with alternative treatment, without a shred of crediblemedical evidence. In the face of a possible misdiagnosis and absolutely no scientificevidence to support the claim that vaccines cause autism, she remains unchanged in heropinion. Unfortunately, her celebrity status has given her a platform to use anecdotal (notscientific) evidence to urge parents against vaccines.

Of course, absolutely nothing is without risk and there can be side effects from vaccines,but those are incredibly rare. Some people are unable to be vaccinated due to allergies orother medical conditions. This makes it altogether more important for those who can getvaccinated to do so, creating a herd immunity for our most vulnerable members of society.

The full version of the map is available on CFR’s website.

MORE HEALTH AND MEDICINE ARTICLES

tags vaccines, disease, measles, whooping cough

space

technology

Planet in Habitable Zone

Google Seeks to IntegrateCameras Into ContactLenses

I Fucking Love Science

Science is Awesome

The Universe

Evolution

The Earth Story

More Science! by Taboola

Molten lava meets acan of Coke

According to StephenHawking, black holesas we currentlyunderstand them d…

Mesmerizing videoshows match burningin super slow motion

Giant MysteriousJellyfish Washes UpOn TasmanianShores

One map sums up the damage caused by the anti-vaccination m... http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-map-sums...

2 of 4 4/28/14, 7:26 AM

2964 Comments IFL Science Logind

Sort by Best

Join the discussion…

• Reply •

unthwarted • 3 months ago

Everydisease has a threshold of pathogenic particles needed to make a personsick. What a vaccine does, is it increases this to a much higher level byprepping your immune system to respond more quickly. This however worksbest when everyone is immunized. Those who are not can produce so manybacteria or viruses as to overwhelm even this higher threshold. Thisis how smallpox was wiped out, and if not for the foolishness of somepeople in the M.E. and Africa, polio could've been eradicated from theworld as well. Now diseases that shouldn't even occur like measles arepopping back up. I think people need to read history and understand howhorrible these diseases were and the life long damage they can cause.

643

• Reply •

Tyler Waltz • 3 months ago> unthwarted

Vaccines actually allow your adaptive immune system to create memorylymphocyte (T or B depending on the pathogenic organism). Then If youget said pathogen that you vaccinated for there is already theappropriate lymphocyte available. Proliferation of that lymphocytehappens more quickly and more intensely, flooding the pathogen andvirtually preventing sickness. I suggest 'Janeway's Immunology' formore information on this

184

• Reply •

L-dan • 3 months ago> Tyler Waltz

He's still basically correct though, and explaining in a way thatanswers the "but I know this dude who got vaccinated and gotsick anyway" anecdotes. You don't necessarily gain an iron cladimmunity. If someone shoves a syringe full of pathogen into you,it may be able to run out of control before those memorylymphoctyes get off an adequate response. i.e. you've gotpathogen levels above that threshold he talks about. Likewise, ifyou have a crappy immune system, the vaccine is going toprotect you more than no vaccine, but you still may have such alow 'threshold' that you get sick.

66

MDWalker • 3 months ago> L-dan

That is not necessarily correct, vaccines are engineered,modified versions of the pathogen. Trained scientists takea live dose of the pathogen and modify it to where it onlypresents its self as a pathogen but has no virulence orcharacteristics to harm the host. It is merely showing thebody what it needs to see to mount an immune responsethe next time it sees it. These trial vaccines are tested atvarious dosages in lab and field trials and at all levels ofconcentration to see the threshold it would take to havean adverse response from the body. Those that evenhave an adverse effect, (most won't) are at such highdosage levels which will never be close to theconcentration presented in the vaccine.

Favorite ★

Share ›

Share ›

Share ›

One map sums up the damage caused by the anti-vaccination m... http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-map-sums...

3 of 4 4/28/14, 7:26 AM

What would it look like if aperson fell into a volcano?

Oldest living cancer genome hasbeen sequenced

get the newsletter email sign up

home

contact

One map sums up the damage caused by the anti-vaccination m... http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-map-sums...

4 of 4 4/28/14, 7:26 AM