Measles returns on the back of ignorance

Measles is here again. Almost everyone, from scientists to doctors, to public health officials, to the average parent thought that, at least in the United States, measles was basically history. Recent outbreaks in California and other states have shown the fallacy in that widely-shared assumption.

The return of the measles might, at first blush, seem a banal topic for a column. After all, so far the outbreak has been limited in scope. In addition, the mortality rate from the disease is very low (although that statistical fact is cold comfort to the one parent in a thousand or so whose child dies from the ailment). Public health officials and local governments have moved quickly to impose quarantines and advocate vigorously for universal vaccination.

So what’s the big deal? The big deal is that this unwelcome new appearance of measles reflects much deeper realities than merely a few dozen kids afflicted with a nasty rash and other uncomfortable symptoms of an illness that is rarely fatal.

The discovery and generalized use of antibiotics and vaccines, which took off starting about the middle of the last century, was supposed to prevent this kind of thing. And indeed it was a momentous scientific achievement and a true milestone for humanity.

In the decades since, these developments have saved countless lives and eradicated dread diseases like polio. Infectious diseases did not disappear, but their capacity to regularly decimate millions of people over vast areas of the planet plummeted. Advances in sanitation and public health also played a huge role.

Together these changes brought about what the experts call “the epidemiological transition.” It began in the rich countries but eventually spread, slowly and unevenly, to the poorer nations. Life expectancy increased. And, especially in the West, the leading causes of death radically changed. Heart disease, cancer, and other diseases of aging replaced infectious diseases as the top killers.

Naturally, all this progress increased confidence, bordering on hubris, in the human ability to master, control, and subdue the natural world, including the organisms that sicken people. Nature had some very nasty surprises up its sleeve, however. The first wakeup call came in the devastating form of HIV/AIDS, which took a disastrous toll in sub-Saharan Africa and spread death and despair in such cutting edge cities as New York and San Francisco.

By the time science caught up with the virus enough to dramatically increase the length and quality of the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS lucky enough to receive the latest medications, Ebola scared the heck out of everyone, especially during the last year when cases began appearing in the United States.

Still, the point is not that science is useless. Eventually, science was able to fight HIV to standoff although neither prevent it through a vaccine nor cure it. Ebola patients treated early in advanced medical centers have a much greater chance to survive than those in Guinea or Sierra Leone.

The point rather is that the assumption on which today’s global society and economy operates, that there is a scientific/technological solution for every problem, is deeply flawed and can easily backfire. If oil becomes scarcer, you drill deeper in the ocean; or you use perilous techniques like fracking; and exploit shale oil at a terrible environmental and aesthetic cost.

The current issue of the techie magazine Wired contains an article that accurately reflects the mindset. The solution to the “rare earths” problems, materials that are in short supply and are needed to manufacture myriad high-tech devices, is… Mine Greenland! One can only imagine the problems that would result from this brilliant proposal.

The second issue implied by the reprise of measles sounds like the polar opposite of the first. But it’s not. The second problem is a climate of denial or skepticism of good science based on group of individual self interest, material or not. Energy companies fuel skepticism about global climate change, about which there is an almost universal scientific consensus. They pay for bogus science, hoping to make people believe there is legitimate debate among scientists and it is still an open question.

Christian fundamentalists, on the other hand, have to reject evolution if they want to continue to believe the Bible is literally the word of God. But often there is financial motive too. Many preachers with mega churches make good money by advocating these very ideas, while the few who have tried to deviate from them have found it is bad for business.

Denial of good science and rationality more generally reached its zenith in the George W. Bush presidency. If ignoring good science and reason writ large was a hallmark of the Bush administration, the spread of measles now has been made possible by a similar phenomenon writ small. Too many people have opted not to vaccinate their children, which makes contracting and spreading the highly contagious disease possible. Such people believe the vaccine does more harm than good. In fact, the vaccine is safe and effective. That’s what all the real scientific studies show.

Of course, Bush didn’t cause the recurrence of measles. But he did help create a climate which made it acceptable to make decisions based on faith and fear rather than science and knowledge.

Ironically, an old study published in a British medical journal and spread ever since by the Internet rumor mill may be the origin of some people’s resistance to vaccination. It purported to show the vaccine could have bad side effects, even cause autism. But that study was based on the worst science of all. It was a deliberate hoax based on falsified data. The study was debunked and the researchers lost their medical license. The journal retracted the study five years ago. Some people evidently didn’t get the memo.

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