Measles stunned the nation this year, especially in Texas. Children make up the majority of these cases as they are often unvaccinated, making them easily susceptible to germs and infections. A child in the U.S. has already died this year due to this virus, and deaths are growing in numbers, as people are taking less than cautionary measures, such as “measles parties.”
“Measles parties,” is a term to describe the act of holding get-togethers with many people — one of which is carrying the measles virus — to spread the disease in hopes that the kids in attendance will eventually develop immunity. This was previously done with chickenpox in the past. While children gained immunity from pox parties, measles is a far more dangerous disease, and thus, more difficult to survive.
As it predictably turns out, these parties have yet to cure any cases of measles either, displaying the lengths parents go to avoid vaccinating their children. A study taken on kindergarteners’ vaccination rates shows 7.3% percent were unvaccinated and, as a result, have the highest possibility of becoming infected.
The parents throwing these “measles parties” have shown their ignorance on this subject. No studies have proven that being surrounded by any disease grants a stronger resistance to said disease, especially if no other precautions have been taken. It is more than selfish to put a child in harm’s way to a virus that could be potentially deadly to them for one’s political or personal beliefs with vaccinations.
What is worse is that the parents of the children attending these parties are often unvaccinated as well, only adding to the dangers that come from these events. If the child does not catch this virus, the parents very well could — enhancing the number of those affected. One can only assume that if these parents are not worried about their kids’ safety, they would not even think of the possibility that they could get sick as well. The denial of the science behind medications like vaccines does not stop at even their own health, which in this situation should come after the children are put in harm’s way.
Measles parties are a multitude of things. They are dangerous, putting children and people who interact with them at risk. They are selfish, as putting one’s beliefs above science only makes this infection harder to battle. They are not a way to Darwin one’s child into becoming above western medicine and making them invincible to a disease that has and could, very well, continue to kill people, especially younger children.
What one believes might be a vaccination-free method to build immunity is just another step of ignorance parents participate in, once again without their child’s consideration. Instead of choosing the hardest, most dangerous route to ensure one’s child’s chance of becoming ill, a better option is a more obvious one: vaccination.
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