Saving the Next Generation: A Practical Solution to Vaccine Denial

The headlines this week have rung with stories of burgeoning rates of infectious diseases, a blight forcing public health emergencies in nearly a hundred countries. The culprit is not the exotic Ebola virus (which itself is amidst a horrific and underreported rampage across Africa) but a crisis most profound in wealthy nations and caused by the rise of a vocal minority of anti-vaccine acolytes and buttressed by ill-intentioned nation states (e.g., Russia) seeking to erode confidence in traditional establishments.  

The genesis of today’s tragedy arises from a blatant and diabolical fraud concocted by a greedy English charlatan, motivated by a quest for greed and glory. The consequence is a rapid expansion of a clutch of deadly diseases, which are exploding amongst children and young adults at a rate not witnessed in generations.  

As I pointed out in BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR, this is certainly not a new phenomenon as vaccinated children and their families were ostracized or expelled from their villages for fear cowpox-based vaccines might curse them to sprout horns and rampage like a mythical minotaur. 

The problem now is that the village is the globe and filled with unfiltered means of information transfer, including the one you are using now (not to mention Facebook and Twitter), which can spread false information not from house-to-house but from continent-to-continent. 

The decisions NOT to immunize children are generally being made by twenty- or thirty-something parents, inculcated with vast amounts of rumors (certainly not knowledge), which has created “super-empowered individuals” falsely convinced of superior decision-making. These parents have been so thoroughly terrorized by false fears of autism as to cause them to willingly sacrifice their children to the far greater risk of death and permanent damage (including ironically, neurological trauma) brought on by lethal pathogens such as measles, mumps, influenza and other deadly infections.  

Although the link between vaccines and autism has been repeatedly proven false, it was possible to overlook decisions by a handful of misguided young parents due to a widely misunderstood process known as herd immunity. This idea presumes that if the vast majority of individuals in a community are protected from a disease (through immunization or prior exposure), this will suppress (but not eliminate) the ability of the pathogen to be transmitted to a susceptible person.  

The utterly selfish act to intentionally facilitate the spread of disease had little consequence when unvaccinated children are sparsely dispersed. However, high rates of vaccine denial have eliminated protective herd effects and now expose both unvaccinated children, not to mention vaccinated but immune-compromised children and adults, risking death or lifelong damage. 

Based on interactions with the front-line troops in this war, pediatricians, most seem increasingly overwhelmed by a system that rarely offers sufficient time to counsel confused parents as to the clear advantages of vaccination. Exacerbating the situation, many skeptical parents claim to be guided by principled decision-making perhaps driven by equally extreme political beliefs. (vaccine skepticism is the rare beast that unites the left and right, linking the Kennedy and Trump families).  

Is the problem insurmountable or can we turn the tide? I would argue the latter and believe we must draw from the wisdom of our elders. Specifically, we need to draft great grandparent, grandparents, or those soon to be. Their collective wisdom has extraordinary potential to reverse the damage and begin a much-needed correction in the views of vaccination.  

Stated bluntly, grandparents have a naked self-interest and emotional investment in ensuring the health of their progeny. Their close bonds with decision-making parents can synergize with experiences learned over a lifetime. Arguably, the greatest value offered by grandparents (and even more so by great-grandparents) is the ability to convey remembrances of the horrors caused by preventable diseases.  

I recall as a child the vivid stories my parents told of the terror surrounding youthful summers shared with an unwanted outbreak of polio, forcing the isolation of children from friends and overheard stories of iron lungs and the death of schoolmates and neighbors. At the other extreme, she remembered the widespread glee following Jonas Salk’s announcement and resolution in the face of the temporary setback arising from the Cutter Incident, in which improperly prepared vaccine harmed or killed children on the West Coast. These experiences provided her with a balanced view, shared by her generation, which unabashedly supports vaccination.  

Such recollections of the death from preventable disease have largely faded from our collective memory due, ironically to the magnitude of success offered by vaccination. Nonetheless, the imagery remains vivid in the memories of many of the oldest members of our society and could help to save the youngest. In short and for all generations: Listen to your parents.