Shame dilapidated: Kennedy's minimized measles death will surely become more | lead columnists

On February 25, a child died in Texas on the measles. When asked about the outbreak, the new Secretary for Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

It is difficult for me to express my anger here. Kennedy will fail to prevent deaths and will refuse any responsibility for this failure.

Measles death can be prevented, but our leadership does not fix the problem.

First of all, let's start the context: Deaths by measles are not common in the United States. The last case of a child who died of the measles was in 2003.

Readers of a certain age may not be familiar with how avoidable measles have become. Before the 1960s, almost all children in the United States commissioned measles at some point. The disease spreads very easily. Usually 500 people would die a year. About 50,000 people per year would be hospitalized.

A vaccine was first developed in 1954. It was improved in several stages in the 1960s.

When the vaccine was adopted, the annual measles cases (not deaths, only the disease) went back from around 400,000 to around 30,000 (1972) in 1960 (1985). A great success.

The measles vaccine is combined with the mumps and rubella vaccines in order to form the MMR shot, which is usually required for school. A child usually gets a first shot of 12-15 months with a second dose of 4 to 6 years.

The second dose was developed due to a specific outbreak between 1989 and 1991, in which 123 people died. About 90% of deaths occurred in the unegacined deaths.

Sometimes, however, a vaccinated person can develop a mild case and then spread them to non -vaccinated people. To stop this process, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommended the second dose.

Cases and deaths continued until measles in the United States were removed in 2000.

Measles have been regularly introduced by foreign travelers since 2000. In these introductions, a strongly vaccinated population prevents the disease from spreading.

Since 2000 there have been only a few measles: a child in 2003 and some adults in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

The case in Texas is a problem because the child has grasped the disease here in the United States. The child was part of a Mennonite community in which the vaccination rate seems to be very low.

This means that the sign with a high vaccination stage, which we had in some small subcultures, seems to be gone.

With a low vaccination rate, we should expect the measles to spread and some people, usually children, die. However, these deaths can be prevented.

We can regain this high vaccination rate. It requires more than just to make their own decision to each parent.

All parents rely on social information from their community leaders, which is important and compatible with their values. Parents, especially small children, rarely have time to carefully examine medical reports or religious theories. Instead, they decrease what seems to be acceptable of those who respect them.

The achievement of a high vaccination rate therefore requires cooperation with the heads of the municipality in order to approve these vaccines and to work for these vaccines. This kind of people centered is sensitive.

Kennedy has to do exactly that in his new role. Of course, it is one of the worst decisions for this role.

He treated the measles outbreak as unimportant and inconspicuous. Instead, he has to be a loud, apologizing lawyer for almost universal vaccinations.

Until we restore this vaccination rate in all of these subcultures, we should expect continued outbursts and continued deaths. Our leadership, including Kennedy, is responsible for this.

Christer Watson from Fort Wayne doctorate in astronomy and writes about the applications of science in everyday life.