Mumps, Measles and other horrific diseases thought to be obsolete are finding a resurgence in today’s world. All these diseases were thought to be gone with the invention of the vaccine in 1967. However, with the internet being what it is, there is a lot of misinformation online that is indirectly aiding with the comeback of these infections.
According to an article on PBS by Priyanka Boghani, “More than 200 individual cases of measles which the U.S. declared was eliminated in 2000 were confirmed across 11 states in the first two months of 2019.”
The internet and social media have the potential to bring sound information about medical issues to the entire planet. The internet also carries poorly sourced and often just flat out wrong misinformation as well, and millions of people are increasingly believing the false facts.
Not vaccinating your child has become a trend. Many people believe that vaccinating your child will cause them to develop autism.
“One enduring misconception about vaccines stems from a now-retracted and repeatedly debunked medical journal article from the late 1990s that implied a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, that myth and others like it has endured. And health officials and lawmakers say that social media has played a key role in the spread of misinformation,” Boghani said in her article.
A lot of younger people are figuring out they were indeed not vaccinated and are going against their parent’s wishes and getting themselves vaccinated in order to prevent the spread of some nasty diseases.
Ethan Lindenberger, an 18-year-old high school student indeed went against his parents’ wishes and indeed vaccinated himself.
“My mother turned to anti-vaccine groups online and on social media looking for her evidence and defense, rather than health officials and through credible sources. These sources that spread misinformation should be the primary concern of the American people.” Said Lindenberger.
Nurse Pat Greeley had his two cents about why children should get their vaccines, “As of right now, I would suggest that everyone vaccinate their kids. There is no study or evidence that fully suggest that vaccinations are harmful.”
“The benefits of being vaccinated far outweighs the risk involved of not vaccinating your child. Diseases such as the mumps are returning after nearly being irradiated can cause long term health issues for your child that are far worse than any side effects of the vaccinations.” Greeley stated.
More recently, there has been a reported outbreak of Mumps at Temple University. Some students have voiced their concerns, such as Morgan McGrail.
“If you send your child off to a public, urban school, or university, you should be willing to vaccinate them to prevent outbreaks such as this,” McGrail stated.
As of today, there has been over 105 reported cases of mumps at Temple University.
Julie Palmer, a Temple student, voiced her concern when she believed she was infected with the nasty disease.
“I thought I had mumps last Friday just because I was sick. That’s how paranoid everyone is.” Palmer said.
She continues, “Everyone is making jokes about it, but I think you can get mumps even if you had the vaccine because the virus mutates or whatever, right?”
Symptoms of mumps include fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite. Swelling in a person’s salivary glands causes puffy cheeks, a signature feature of the disease.
Mumps can be contracted through saliva exchange or something as simple as drinking after them or sharing their utensils.
Tej Patel of Temple said, “The mumps situation is scary here. It seems like every once in a while, I find out someone I know has it. Mumps is very contagious, and it seems like the situation at Temple isn’t slowing down.”
Patel does things to stay as clean as possible, “I, myself, make sure that I keep washing my hands before I eat or do anything because mumps is something that can knock you out for nearly two weeks and I can’t afford to get that behind in my classes.”
This outbreak is causing people to fall behind in class whether it is because of their sickness or the paranoia of catching it.
Marybeth Gerdelmann, a Temple Student, said, “The fact that the outbreak spread around the university so quickly was a big surprise. Vaccines are important for everyone, especially for the health of college students.”
Temple has been providing free vaccinations for students.
“I think it is great Temple Health Services took action to provide vaccination clinics this week so students can receive the mumps vaccine and booster shots.” Gerdelmann continued.
It is a step in the right direction, however, there needs to be some sort of regulation regarding these vaccines we receive. It is good to have your own opinions after looking up facts, sometimes you just need to update them every so often to make sure your knowledge is still accurate.