Dealing with an Epidemic

by Lauren Johnstone

We are facing a huge crisis, not just in the UK, but worldwide. The number of measles cases is skyrocketing, whilst MMR vaccination rates are plummeting. Between 2010 and 2017, over half a million children in the UK went unvaccinated against the disease. This is largely attributed to the growth of the anti-vax movement, which has been identified as one of the top ten global threats of 2019 by the World Health Organisation. The question now is, what do we do about this threat to public health?

One of the main perpetrators of the anti-vax movement was, now disgraced doctor, Andrew Wakefield, who in 1998 published a paper in The Lancet linking the MMR vaccine to autism spectrum disorders. The story was highly publicised in the media with papers, such as the Daily Mail, backing Wakefield. MMR vaccination rates in the UK fell from over 90% to around 80% by 2003, as parents were concerned about the risk of autism following vaccination. An investigation later showed that Wakefield had a number of undeclared conflicts of interest, had manipulated evidence and had broken other ethical codes. There have been numerous studies that support the safety of the MMR vaccine – the most recent systematic review analysed evidence from 31 studies and found no evidence for a link between the vaccine and autism. Wakefield’s paper was withdrawn from The Lancet and he was later struck off. However, the damage had already been done and the modern anti-vax movement had been started.

In recent years the anti vax movement has continued to grow as social media has been used to spread fear and convince parents not to vaccinate their children. Unfortunately, the movement has been somewhat successful and as a result we are facing a measles epidemic, with over 110,000 measles cases reported worldwide within just the first three months of 2019 – almost a 300% increase from the same time period last year.

The measles crisis has become an epidemic and we need to do something about it. Currently the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, is attempting to deal with the issue by trying to remove lies and misinformation from social media. The government is also continuing to emphasise that, despite the anti-vax propaganda, the vaccine is safe. However, given the severity of the current situation more radical solutions may be required.

If we don’t want the epidemic in the UK to become as severe as it is in the US at the moment, where two California Universities have been placed under quarantine and there have been over 700 cases this year alone, then we need to act now. Whilst increasing education about vaccines and limiting anti-vax propaganda on social media is important, in order to have an immediate impact the introduction of mandatory vaccination may be necessary.

Britain would not be the first to take this step. In 2018 certain vaccinations were made mandatory in France and recently New York City, in the face of the current public health emergency, has also made the measles vaccination mandatory. Hopefully, it will help to prevent the development of the crisis and will enable us to move back towards the 95% coverage that we need for herd immunity. This herd immunity is what will protect the most vulnerable in society, such as babies who are not yet old enough for their first MMR vaccination. The heart-breaking story of Jilly Moss, a mother in the UK, whose baby contracted measles that we so severe that her eyes were swollen shut for four days shows us that we need to act now to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

All parents want what is best for their children, and in an ideal world they would not face conflicting information online which made them question the decision to vaccinate. Anti-vaxxers should be held accountable for spreading both misinformation and lies which have caused untold damage. However, this is not always possible and as a result we may come to the point where our only available option to deal with the crisis is mandatory vaccination.