Before vaccines, we just got sick and infected anyone around us. We got better or we didn’t. Some who contracted polio ended up with a limp, deformity or died. Specialized vaccines have eliminated many diseases.
Currently our biggest threat in Utah is measles. The measles virus is one of the most infectious diseases. The vaccine developed in 1963 has been very successful in the US. Sixty years later this state is one of the worst states in the country at protecting our children from measles. We have record high numbers of measles (516 cases) in 2026. Many children (56) have been hospitalized. Since the vaccine is given in combination, those same children are at risk for mumps and rubella.
Measles is nasty. The symptoms are fever as high as 105 degrees, a dry cough and runny nose. After three to five days the rash may appear. A person with measles can spread the disease before ever knowing they have it. The virus can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis and death. It is a disease that can also wipe out the person’s immunity to other diseases meaning they are vulnerable to diseases they were previously immune to.
Measles is one of the leading causes of death in unvaccinated children worldwide.
The biggest challenge with measles is that it is spread by breathing the shared air in the room. The virus spreads when the host breathes or sneezes. The droplets that are normally released from the mouth as we talk and breathe enter another person through the air they breathe.
Utah once had high vaccination rates. Our school requirements meant that children were vaccinated and protected from measles. A rare case of measles had no one to infect. Currently many children in our Utah schools are not fully vaccinated. Schools have reduced the requirement for vaccination leaving the door open for this to occur.
The people at greatest risk are babies under a year, pregnant moms and people who may be immunosuppressed due to cancer treatment or with autoimmune diseases. They might be your child’s teacher, baby brother or grandmother.
The ramifications of choosing not to vaccinate can put a whole community of people at risk. So, in a unique way choosing to vaccinate is an act of kindness to choose to protect your own children and the whole community.
Patricia Sadoski, Logan