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Parents expose children to the measles virus as part of a trend known as "measles celebrations" in New York. The goal is to get children to contract measles and develop immunity against the disease. ( Esi Grünhagen | pixabay )
Health experts in New York warn parents not to participate in a dangerous trend that is gaining popularity: the measles celebrations.
The measles parties are meetings where groups of parents expose their unvaccinated children to each other so that they can contract the disease voluntarily. This is the latest blow to the city that has already been declared in a public health emergency due to the measles outbreak.
As CBS News notes, the wrong logic behind these parties is based on the functioning of the immune system: by building permanent immunity against the disease once the individuals are infected.
"I know parents may be worried about getting their child vaccinated, but as a pediatrician, I know that getting vaccinated is much safer than being vaccinated against measles," says Dr. Oxiris Barbot, Commissioner of the Department of Public Health. New York Health. "The vaccine has been proven safe and effective in preventing the spread of measles for decades and we have evidence."
Of course, in a measles infection, people do not become instantly immune. First, they get sick, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly for infected children.
What happens when children are exposed to measles?
When children become infected with the virus, they have a high fever, a cough, a runny nose, red and watery eyes and Koplik spots in the mouth. In a few days, the rashes will begin to spread throughout the body.
At the very least, measles causes considerable discomfort in patients or conditions such as diarrhea and ear infections, but some potential complications are much more serious.
According to the CDC, one in 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, which is the most common cause of measles deaths in children. One in 1,000 people with measles also contract encephalitis or swelling of the brain, which can cause convulsions and leave children who are deaf or have intellectual disabilities.
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a fatal disease of the central nervous system that usually develops seven to ten years after a measles infection.
In total, one or two in every 1,000 children with measles die.
Vaccines are safer than getting the disease
Scientists have developed vaccines so that people can become immune without the stress and dangers of the disease. The vaccines mimic the infection, which allows the immune system to develop the immunity needed to fight the virus in the future.
The MMR vaccine is safe and the best way to avoid getting sick, according to the CDC. A single dose of this vaccine is effective at about 93% to prevent measles and two doses at about 97%.
"Because vaccines have been so effective at preventing diseases so far prevalent, we tend to forget that measles and other childhood diseases can be very serious," says Dr. Max Gomez, medical correspondent from CBS 2, in CBS. "Why would you deliberately expose your child to measles, making him feel bad, having a high fever (possibly leading to seizures), risking expensive hospitalization and other potentially serious complications when a simple vaccine can prevent all this? "
He adds that an infected person could transmit the disease to another person whose immune system is compromised. In an immunocompromised person, measles can quickly become fatal.
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