Post on 24-Jun-2015
description
What’s the fuss about Measles?
www.fridayschildmontessori.com
To a certain extent, measles in childhood in the developed world isn’t that traumatic: a child gets a fever and a rash all over the body for about a
week or so.
However, this is what happens for the lucky majority.
The trouble with measles is that they can lead to
complications.
Mild complications include ear infections, pneumonia and diarrhoea, which put a further
toll on an already stressed little immune system.
Severe complications include inflammation and swelling of the brain and, in some cases, death. To be utterly blunt, autism
isn’t likely to kill anybody but measles can.
There was another twist to the scare about the measles
vaccine and autism: the scientist who had his paper
published in the Lancet making the claim about the
link turned out to be rather shonky.
Six years after the original article was published, another
scientist found that the original author had
manipulated evidence and had heaps of undeclared
conflicts of interest.
In plain language: lies and cover-ups. The findings of that original paper were
completely debunked and retracted by 2010 and the doctor who published the paper was struck from the
register for scientific misconduct.
But the damage had been done and a number of
concerned parents around the world had chosen not to
vaccinate their children, with the end result that outbreaks
spiked.
In many ways, we don’t know how lucky we are – just ask
anyone from overseas where they don’t have such an
intensive vaccination programme.
People from these countries may still be at risk, especially the children. And immigrants can still bring the virus into
the country with them unintentionally.
So don’t get blasé and assume that you don’t have to have your children vaccinated
against measles: outbreaks still happen, and we get a lot of people coming to the lovely
Gold Coast from overseas.
Remember: vaccination just means that your immune
system can fight off and resist the virus, and it can still be
passed on by people who are immune to it.
How are measles spread?
Pretty much in the same way that most viral infections are spread, like coughs and colds, which is via coughs, sneezes
and unwashed hands transferring the virus off and
onto surfaces and toys.
Although we’re not concerned about measles in particular at Friday’s Child, we still stress
that good hygiene is an important part of self-care
and is very important as part of our Montessori
curriculum.
Coughs and sneezes need to be covered, preferably with
the crook of the elbow rather than with the hands or with a
tissue/handkerchief.
Hands should be washed before eating (and after going to the toilet, but the toilet has
less to do with spreading measles and more to do with
spreading bacteria).
Children shouldn’t share drink bottles, cups or food, as minute smears of saliva can and do pass viruses along.
We believe that children should be encouraged to share, but there are some things that shouldn’t be
shared.
www.fridayschildmontessori.com