Thinking of Others

To years before the Vaccine.

 In a 1955 interview, Dr Jonas Salk was asked who owned the patent for his polio vaccine.  It was the same day his polio vaccine was officially declared safe and effective.   He replied, "Well, the people, I would say.  There is no patent.  Could you patent the sun?"  Six pharmaceutical companies began producing his IPV, (Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine) but Salk did not profit.  His goal was the elimination of polio, and that required availability universally at low cost or no cost.  

The example he set for the world must be remembered by all of us, that when we make aT= decision about our own health, we are impacting others.   You might ask, what business is it of theirs?  This blog shares answers to that question. 

Our American approach to freedom of choice for ourselves is something we value.  Yet, decisions about how we feel and act about our own health with regard to contagious diseases can never honestly be no one else's business.  Remember back to school, lining up in a row to pass by for shots?  I still have a faint reminder on my shoulder from one of those shots.  

In an interview of Robert H. Hopkins, Jr, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases he said, "One of the most important steps families can take before the new school year is making sure children--and the entire family--are up to date on back-to-school vaccines.  Vaccines help protect students from illness that spread easily in the classroom."

Times have changed since I was in school!  As Americans, we have always valued our rights, but it seems that more recently we guard our rights with greater indifference to the impact on others.  Of course, there are people with medical reasons that prohibit fascinations.  They must rely on community immunity to protect them from the spread of disease.  However, if too many choose not to be vaccinated, the community immunity weakens or fails. 

You might be surprised to learn that Public Health Priorities were first argued in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1905.  The Court ruled the defendant's argument that he had the right to care for his own body did not supersede the protection of public health.  People of faith sometimes objected to health requirements, and in some states, accommodations have resulted in significant numbers of sick unvaccinated school children.  The beliefs of those parents are real, but their decisions can have a greater impact than just on their own children.

Several years ago, a British physician named Andrew Wakefield suggested that single vaccinations were better than combining them.  His insistence brought him nothing but trouble.  

The combined vaccinations have been common in America.  While single vaccinations may be somewhat better, the combined vaccinations also have their advantages.  It reduces the number sticks during a single visit to the doctor.  It reduces the number of health care appointments needed to keep children fully protected.  Also, in families where both are working, one trip to the clinic is appreciated.  

Another important consideration is that the saying "one and done" applies.  Three appointments in a busy family are less likely to be accomplished in a timely way, if at all, than one vaccination.   

                           Happy back to school and be careful to watch for the street crossings!