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Over 2,5 thousand people refused to vaccinate their children in 2017 in Warsaw, according to the data of the Sanepid. The number of unvaccinated children is growing, which is why the capital city hall is launching today a social campaign urging vaccinations to prevent infectious diseases such as measles or whooping cough from returning.
For several years now, there have been more and more people in Poland who refuse to vaccinate their children. While in 2012, 432 babies were not vaccinated in the capital city, five years later, in 2017, more than 2,5 parents refused to vaccinate. To stop this disturbing trend, Warsaw is launching a social campaign urging parents to vaccinate. The City Hall emphasizes that if someone vaccinates children, he not only cares about their health, but also that we do not fall ill with infectious diseases again. Why? Because when the percentage of vaccinated people (the so-called vaccination coverage) drops below a certain level (depending on the disease: 85-95%), the so-called population protection, in which the unvaccinated individual is protected by the people around (they do not “carry” pathogens, so there is no way to spread them).
Reproduced rumors instead of facts
Włodzimierz Paszyński, deputy mayor of Warsaw, emphasizes that in the capital, an exceptionally large number of parents – compared to other cities – refuse to vaccinate. – It has to do with the “level” of education – emphasizes Paszyński. – The higher the level of education, the worse the situation is. People on the net read all kinds of untrue things about vaccinations and spread rumors.
Prof. Teresa Jackowska, the national consultant in the field of paediatrics, says that she spoke many times in the hospital with parents who did not vaccinate their children. The pediatrician stresses that when he asks them why they have not given the mandatory vaccines, most are unable to come up with a rational argument. – Often they are not even able to say against which diseases they did not vaccinate the child – says prof. Jackowska. – Sometimes they answer that they do not vaccinate, because children have natural immunity and do not get sick. When they see seriously ill children on the ward, they change their minds and vaccinate.
Prof. Jackowska emphasizes that in order to convince people who do not vaccinate children, a substantive conversation with them on the part of doctors and nurses is needed. – You have to provide facts that prove that vaccinations are safe and effective – emphasizes the doctor. – We should also monitor why there are many children in a given clinic who are not vaccinated? There are doctors who refuse vaccinations. I heard from my parents about the receptionist at the clinic discouraging them from vaccinating. This means that not only parents but also medical staff should be educated about the benefits of such solutions.
Measles is back!
Ewa Adam, head of the Protective Vaccination Section of the District Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Warsaw, emphasizes that the number of measles cases is increasing every year (vaccines associated with it are allegedly supposed to cause autism). In 2010, there were 13 cases of measles in Poland, and in 2016 – 133. The expert emphasizes that due to the decline in the number of vaccinated children, not only measles, but also whooping cough and diphtheria return.
Ewa Adam gives the example of Ukraine, where measles is raging. Official WHO data show that last year there were over 4,7 cases of this disease. Prof. Jackowska warns that this information may be unreliable. – Mothers of children from Ukraine who come to the hospital say that they have a stamp in their medical records, but the child was not vaccinated at all and I believe they are telling the truth – says prof. Jackowska.
In many European Union countries, the proportion of people vaccinated against measles is less than 95%. – it means that it is insufficient to ensure the so-called population (collective) immunity and interruption of virus transmission.
Romania is one of the European countries most exposed to the spread of the measles virus (there were 2017 cases of measles in 4494). Among the other countries potentially at risk of such risk, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control mentions Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.
– Infectious diseases are coming back, because in other countries there is also a problem with vaccinating children – emphasizes Ewa Adam. – Traveling around the world, we are able to bring infectious diseases. There have been no cases of diphtheria in other countries for years, and now they are. In 2016, one child fell ill and died in Belgium. It wasn’t vaccinated. A year earlier there was the same case in Spain.
Whooping cough – comes back after years of peace
Coughing attacks, characteristic of whooping cough, can cause rupture of blood vessels, bruising and bruising of the conjunctiva and skin, and nosebleeds. Infants may experience apnea at the end of the cough and then develop seizures.
In Poland, in the 60s, mass vaccinations were introduced in Poland and the number of cases decreased from tens of thousands to hundreds of cases annually. Thanks to the introduction of vaccinations, young children stopped dying from this disease. However, the number of cases of people with whooping cough has been increasing again in the last few years. In 2010, 59 people fell ill with whooping cough in the capital, and in 2016 – 359.
Smallpox only in the laboratory
Prof. Jackowska reminds that thanks to vaccinations smallpox has already been completely eliminated in the world. Her viruses are stored in laboratories.
Also, thanks to widespread immunization in Europe, young people are no longer visible after contracting polio (or Heine-Medina disease). However, in several countries there are still native infections caused by wild strains of this virus, e.g. in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan. Polioviruses can be imported from these areas into other countries, and this can be dangerous if the country’s population is not vaccinated. Example? The Ukrainian Ministry of Health announced in an official statement two cases of poliomyelitis in children (10 months and 4 years old) caused by the polio virus. These children were not vaccinated. These are the first cases of the disease in Europe since 2010.
According to data for 2014, only 49 percent. children in Ukraine were vaccinated against poliomyelitis. Too little percentage of the vaccinated population promotes the formation of mutant strains that can cause polio.