LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — Parents need to do more to protect their children, a Henderson pediatrician said after an alarming decline in vaccination rates among school-age children.
Dr. Carrie Wijesinghe of Siena Pediatrics said measles was almost eliminated from the planet in the year 2000. It is a highly contagious viral respiratory infection spread by contact and respiratory droplets.
Wijesinghe said a vaccine called MMR — measles, mumps and rubella — given to kids at ages 1 and 4 is the best way to prevent it.
But in the late 1990s, misguided information and research fraud started an anti-vaccination movement, claiming the vaccine was causing autism, Wijesinghe said. “This has been debunked numerous times.”
The studies were flawed and false. And yet, the damage was done: vaccination rates, particularly MMR, declined.
Wijesinghe said it’s happening again. “Now we are going into another round of people not believing in vaccines, because of the pandemic, and our herd immunity is dropping further down,” she said.