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| Army immunization register |
My kids did not get mumps because they received the MMR vaccine. They did get chicken pox during a memorably miserable spell between Christmas 1987 and Valentines 1988 in Edmond, Oklahoma. Worse, they shared the disease with an adult male at a Christmas gathering.
My grandchildren will not get mumps, measles, rubella, or chicken pox. At least if they are not exposed to the diseases, before they can be immunized. How would they be exposed? By a child whose parents opted-out of vaccinations. So this Grancy is grumpy about mumps.
Private Howard Mastalir came down with mumps the last day of basic training at Ft. Belvoir, VA. He was headed to the hospital for ten or twelve days when he wrote his Ma not to worry. He would miss his TMD [troop moblilization departure] for ASTP [Army Specialist Training Program] but was developing a soldier frame of mind. Who cares? Let the Army worry about it. Never mind that mumps can cause encephalitis, deafness, and swollen testicles in adults! There were other guys with mumps arriving in the ward, and guys with measles down the hall.
Lunching with teachers today, I learned my city, Plano, is a hotspot for nonmedical exemptions (NMEs), children entering school unvaccinated. With this many exemptions the greater population is no longer protected from illnesses. Parents who have never seen a case of mumps are less likely to understand the consequences to the community of a mumps outbreak. Why have they never seen a case of mumps? Because their generation had required vaccinations.
From the Texas Medical Association:
Researchers identified 15 large metropolitan areas where more than 400 kindergarten-aged children have not received their vaccines. Texas has the most “hotspots” with four. Michigan has three (Detroit, Troy, and Warren); Washington has two (Seattle and Spokane); and Utah has two (Salt Lake City and Provo). The other hotspots are Portland, Phoenix, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh.
“The high numbers of NMEs in these densely populated urban centers suggest that outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases could either originate from or spread rapidly throughout these populations of unimmunized, unprotected children,” the study says. “The fact that the largest count of vaccine-exempt pediatric populations originate in large cities with busy international airports may further contribute to this risk.”
Dad wrote about getting lots of shots in the army. What were those immunizations? Smallpox, triple typhoid, typhus, and a flu shot after the war ended.
In the prevaccine era, mumps gained notoriety as an illness that substantially affected armies during mobilization. The average annual rate of hospitalization resulting from mumps during World War I was 55.8 per 1,000, which was exceeded only by the rates for influenza and gonorrhea. -- How WWII spurred vaccine innovation.
In the prevaccine era, mumps gained notoriety as an illness that substantially affected armies during mobilization. The average annual rate of hospitalization resulting from mumps during World War I was 55.8 per 1,000, which was exceeded only by the rates for influenza and gonorrhea. -- How WWII spurred vaccine innovation.
A little evening reading while you are sipping ginger ale through a straw. We each have a responsibility to protect ALL of us.
- How General George Washington had the Continental Army inoculated against smallpox.
- How WWII spurred vaccine innovation.
- Smithsonian Institution history of the measles-mumps-rubella antibody initiative.
- Center for Disease Control description of complications from the mumps.
- Remember that part about busy international airports?
© 2013-2018 Nancy L. Ruder
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