Changes

===Herd Immunity in Britain===

===Herd Immunity in Britain===

Due to a decrease in vaccination, measles has become endemic in Britain. This means that measles does not need to be brought in by travelers, but instead has a large enough base of unvaccinated individuals for it to continuously spread inside the country. In London, only 71 percent of children receive the first dose of the vaccine and only 51 percent the second dose. Due to this decline, there were 461 cases in Britain in the first half of 2008. These cases have had tragic consequences, with the death of a 17 year old reported in 2008.<ref>[http://www.healthdirect.co.uk/2008/07/measles-endemic-in-britain-official.html Health Direct NHS watch blog]</ref> This immunization failure is due to parents opting out of the MMR vaccine program in the wake of the fraudulent<ref>http://briandeer.com/wakefield-deer.htm</ref> claims of a link between the vaccine and autism made by former doctor [[Andrew Wakefield]]. <ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4100287.ece</ref>

Due to a decrease in vaccination, measles has become endemic in Britain. This means that measles does not need to be brought in by travelers, but instead has a large enough base of unvaccinated individuals for it to continuously spread inside the country. In London, only 71 percent of children receive the first dose of the vaccine and only 51 percent the second dose. Due to this decline, there were 461 cases in Britain in the first half of 2008. These cases have had tragic consequences, with the death of a 17 year old reported in 2008.<ref>[http://www.healthdirect.co.uk/2008/07/measles-endemic-in-britain-official.html Health Direct NHS watch blog]</ref> This immunization failure is due to parents opting out of the MMR vaccine program in the wake of the claims concerning links between the vaccine and autism. <ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4100287.ece</ref>

== Adverse Reactions ==

== Adverse Reactions ==

Many people assume that official vaccine recommendations are based on recommendations of independent panels of experts after reviewing risk-benefit and cost-benefit analyses. They are not. The government panels are dominated by vaccine industry representatives and they have no consumer representatives. The meetings are not open to the public. They do not usually do much analysis, and tend to recommend whatever vaccines are available.

Many people assume that official vaccine recommendations are based on recommendations of independent panels of experts after reviewing risk-benefit and cost-benefit analyses. They are not. The government panels are dominated by vaccine industry representatives and they have no consumer representatives. The meetings are not open to the public. They do not usually do much analysis, and tend to recommend whatever vaccines are available.

Misinformed rumors about vaccines do not happen only in the developed world. The world wide polio eradication effort in Nigeria came to a halt in 2003 when Muslim Imams began spreading rumors that the vaccines would give boys HIV and sterilize girls. The vaccine was banned for over a year in the country. The ban has since been lifted, but the vaccination rate remains low.

Misinformed rumors about vaccines do not happen only in the developed world. The world wide polio eradication came to a halt in 2003 when Muslim Imams in Nigeria began spreading rumors that the vaccines would give boys HIV and sterilize girls. The vaccine was banned for over a year in the country. The ban has since been lifted, but the vaccination rate remains low.

==References==

==References==