A death wave is sweeping through the world, killing hundreds of people. Disrupting people’s daily routines and causing them to flee their hometowns in fear. Leaving the sick to die alone in their last most vulnerable moments, not even wanting to touch them or hold their hands.
Although this description seems shockingly contemporary, this was an annual occurrence in the past. During the Great Epidemic of 1721, nearly one in 13 deaths that occurred every day were because of smallpox, an infectious disease. People did not live to see their fifties. Child mortality was at its all-time high and maternal mortality was on the rise. All because of infectious diseases. We had no way of protecting ourselves from these killers. So humans who were born at that time grew up with the knowledge that they were going to die soon. But in 1796, everything started to change. The first vaccine was discovered. The vaccine that could protect us from the smallpox virus. Edward Jenner was able to inoculate a boy with products from blisters of cowpox disease and make him immune to the smallpox virus. This became the vaccine. He soon started inoculating every individual with the vaccine. And that is how smallpox disease was eradicated. This also marks an important turning point in the history of infectious diseases. Since then, many vaccines were discovered. Humans have been able to develop long-lasting immunity by immunizing children against diseases such as polio, HPV, chickenpox, and hepatitis. And that is how the yearly death wave ceased to exist.
Immunization is the process of stimulating a person’s immune system to act against certain harmful infective organisms when it becomes essential. This is done using vaccines. Humans are immunized when they are small. It starts right after birth when the baby gets its first HBV vaccine. By immunization, the baby is inoculated with the disease-causing microbe in a less harmful state or they are inoculated in a dead state. Sometimes parts of the organism are enough to do the job. After inoculation, the immune cells in the body recognize these microbes as “foreign” bodies and they try to kill them in different ways. In this process, they produce substances called “antibodies” which work against these harmful microbes. As they do this, they also replicate and produce cells called “memory” cells. These cells are basically a memory of the body’s response to the specific “foreign” body. So our bodies are now prepared to fight this infective organism if it attacks us again at a higher dose.
But the benefits that we humans obtain from such vaccines cannot be restricted to just an individual’s standpoint. Even though, as an individual, we obtain many benefits. Many infectious diseases are prevented. Some of these diseases are fatal. E.g., smallpox. Some leave a permanent scar. E.g., chickenpox. And some even immobilize humans. For example, polio. But vaccines also give a global benefit. They are essential to developing “herd immunity”. Herd immunity is when a large proportion of humans are immune to a certain disease. Without developing this sort of immunity, we cannot eradicate harmful infectious diseases. Smallpox was eradicated because large groups of people decided to immunize themselves and their future generations. If this had not been done, we would still be living with the risk of dying from it.
But recently, some people are choosing not to immunize their children. There has been a new trend of “anti-vaccination”. Although it is less present in the eastern world, the number of anti-vaxers in the western world is increasing at great speed. The main reason for such an occurrence, scientists believe, is the assumed link between autism and vaccination. Autism is a developmental disorder. Where the development of a child is hindered at a very young age. The amount of hindrance can vary across a spectrum. It is becoming relatively common in the present day. The cause of it is unknown. But some parents believe that vaccinating their children will lead them to develop autism. This assumed link has been disapproved in several peer-reviewed papers by several developmental specialists. But still, this is a very popular belief in the western hemisphere. Psychologists say that this belief could be explained by the different biases present in humans. Confirmation bias, naturalness bias and cognitive bias are just a few which contribute to this altered perception. A child develops autism generally at a very early age. Children are also vaccinated from a very early age. As a result, parents tend to associate these as well. Since there is no identified cause for autism, another popular reason why parents choose not to vaccinate is the fear of the death of the child during the process. This can occur, but it is a very rare occurrence. Studies that have been done regarding this phenomenon have concluded that strict regulations and inspections of vaccines have prevented such deaths.
This anti-vaccination movement has threatened not only the health of individuals and also the strength of our herd immunity. It had led to the re-emergence of several old diseases. People who are immune-suppressed due to chronic illnesses such as diabetes are the first ones to be affected by this reemergence. But it can also affect individuals at any stage of their life. This re-emergence would therefore threaten our health care systems, our economy, and even our social systems. Hence, educators, researchers, and medical professionals are trying so hard to reduce the influence of the anti-vaccination campaign on ordinary people. Social media has been discovered as the medium in which most misinformation is being spread. And its influence has been addressed. But the most effective way to combat the anti-vaxxer movement, doctors believe, is by developing trust. Humans have to start to believe that their doctors will not harm them.
In Sri Lanka, every child is given a vaccination card at the hospital after the first vaccine administration. Then the parents should follow the vaccine list and days given in that card and continue to vaccinate the child at different ages. This schedule has been approved by the NACCD (National advisory community on communicable diseases). Also, special vaccinations are provided for the immunosuppressed, after a chronic illness diagnosis, after a medical procedure, and after any natural disaster. It is very important that we all understand the importance of immunization and realize it is our duty to do so to protect ourselves and our surroundings.
References
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/cannot-forget-world-before-vaccines
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/imz-basics.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzxr9FeZf1g
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6122668/
Article by,
Author — Krishanni Prabagar
Editor — Prabha Jalini
