Six lives every minute. That’s the number saved by vaccines, according to a World Health Organization study published in the Lancet earlier this year. That amounts to 154 million people in the last 50 years alone. And the vast majority of lives saved in that half-century – 101 million – were those of infants.
It was the Englishman Edward Jenner who noticed that people infected with cowpox were immune to the more deadly smallpox. In 1786 he created the first vaccine, using material from a cowpox wound to inoculate against smallpox. In the more than two hundred years since, we have developed and rolled out vaccines for a wide range of once-fatal or debilitating diseases.
Yet we now seem to have become so complacent about the benefits that people are avoiding vaccines completely. That makes them – and to some extent all of us – much more vulnerable to disease.
The current outbreak of whooping cough has rightly scared parents. It’s the worst we’ve seen in forty years. Many adults have also succumbed to it and suffered from the so-called ‘100 day cough’.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed that 2,793 cases of whooping cough had been reported at the end of March and five babies had tragically died from the infection.
The current outbreak of whooping cough has rightly scared parents. It’s the worst we’ve seen in forty years, writes Dr Max
There is always a delay between the number of deaths and the publication of official figures, so it seems inevitable that the real number will already be higher. Last week it was reported in this newspaper that pediatric intensive care units are at ‘surge capacity’ due to whooping cough and measles, meaning they are almost overcrowded.
There are several factors at work here. Yes, the problem may be partly due to reduced community immunity due to lockdowns. But there is no doubt that this has also been fueled by a rise in the number of parents refusing to have their babies and toddlers vaccinated, with some pregnant women also turning down the jab.
With uptake not much above 90 per cent in the last 12 months for the six-in-one jab given to babies – which also protects against diphtheria and polio – we are rapidly losing the blanket coverage we need to cover whooping cough to keep at a distance. In London that is only 86 percent.
Vaccine refusal has been a problem since the 1990s, when unfounded fears about the triple MMR vaccination saw its uptake decline
In fact, ‘vaccine hesitancy’ has been a problem for years. It started in the late 1990s with the panic caused by Andrew Wakefield, a doctor who wrongly linked the measles, mumps and rubella shot to autism. That, of course, has been categorically refuted and Wakefield was struck off the medical register (although he remains an outspoken anti-vaxxer). But the idea that vaccines can be dangerous persists. Many parents still have a nagging concern.
You would think that those who were the most hesitant would come from a less educated background, perhaps because they don’t understand the science or how crucial vaccination is to their child’s health. But research shows that the opposite is true. With MMR, for example, vaccine uptake is lowest in some of the most affluent regions. This suggests that groups of people who are generally well-educated and otherwise proactive about health care are actively turning their backs on vaccines.
This feels to me like part of a broader trend. I’ve certainly noticed a growing sense among middle-class patients that they know best when it comes to their health. They no longer blindly trust doctors or experts, and are often resistant or skeptical to health campaigns because they don’t like being told what to do.
This lack of trust has been amplified by social media. People are bombarded with misinformation and outright lies online – and too many people believe them.
It’s all too easy to get sucked into forums run by people who think they “know more” than doctors.
Add to that the sense of superiority that you sometimes experience among middle-class patients – an unwillingness to submit to those with medical qualifications – and you have a vaccine refuser.
There is another, more unclear problem: people are tired of vaccines after Covid.
People tend to have short attention spans and after the huge push to get people vaccinated in 2020, they’re just tired of hearing about jabs and how important they are. They don’t prioritize it.
I fear that vaccine skepticism will only worsen in the wake of the revelations that while the AstraZeneca Covid jabs are saving millions of lives worldwide, they appear to be linked to potentially serious complications.
Scientists rigorously test vaccines – pharmaceutical companies can’t afford not to.
One of humanity’s greatest advances was the development of a method of scientific research that tests hypotheses—and all new medical treatments—as objectively as possible. And we know that the children’s vaccination against whooping cough is safe.
If we want to prevent further increases in infectious diseases, doctors must work better with those who are vaccine skeptics. It is critical that the misinformation and misunderstandings are openly discussed. We should never be afraid of debate.
While it is unlikely to change the minds of die-hard anti-vaxxers, it will hopefully expose some of the untruths circulating about the whooping cough vaccine, and help those who are hesitant or confused make an informed choice about protecting their child.
Is it me, or is this gross?
Damian Hurley, 22, had to direct his mother, Elizabeth Hurley, 58, in a sex scene in his new movie
Most people find the idea of their parents having sex something they would rather not think about. But imagine if you not only had to think about it, but… choreographer also the action?
Damian Hurley, 22, got to do just that when he directed his mother, Elizabeth Hurley, 58, in his new film. Afterwards, Liz said: ‘Everyone knows it’s actually not sexy to film any intimate scene… Damian made it so comfortable. It was nothing.’ I’m sure she’s right, but still. There’s something strange about your child being involved in this way.
Part of me loves that they’re close — they seem more like friends than mother and son — but I also don’t really agree that he’s taking racy photos of her posing in bikinis to promote her beachwear. I can’t help but think there is something to be said about boundaries.
As you get older, a fall can have devastating consequences. As bones become brittle, even a simple trip can result in a fracture.
One in three people over 65 and half of people over 80 will fall at least once a year, costing the UK an estimated £4.4 billion annually.
That’s why I like a new program called Finding Your Feet, designed by British Judo. It is a course, given by judo trainers, that lasts 18 different judo techniques and adapts them for the elderly with the risk of falling.
They will be show them how to improve their balance and how to fall safely. It’s a brilliant idea.
Dr. Max prescribes: Sweet Bee Organics
This new range of handmade organic products uses many natural ingredients. My favorite is the ‘sweet sleep magnesium butter’ that you rub on the bottom of your feet 20 minutes before going to bed.
There is some evidence that magnesium improves sleep by acting on certain chemicals in the brain, such as NMDA, GABA and melatonin, which affect how relaxed or tired a person feels.