Happy New Year. January 2010
Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and new year. I spent a lot of time travelling around visiting my parents in Norfolk (driving through lots of heavy snow) and then across to Wolverhampton. We came back to Lewisham for New Years and had a lovely time watching the fireworks over London at Telegraph Hill Park.
At the moment I’m writing an essay on the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination which I’m sure most people have heard of. The MMR injection was first given as a 3-in-1 jab in 1988 but in 1998 there was a lot of negative press over it which then caused a huge drop in vaccination figures (which was completely misguided in my opinion.)The study published in 1998 was based on some very dodgy information and only on a case study of 12 children. Most of the trouble surounding the injection was huge media speculation and incredebly misleading. My analysis of the evidence suggests that the risks of contracting Measles, Mumps or Rubella are far higher than the risks of any side effects.
The MMR vaccination was a topic which I chose myself due to its local interest in Lewisham. This is because I remember last year receiving a notification from my doctors telling me that I should make sure my measles vaccination was up to date because of a recent outbreak in Lewisham.Anyway, although the figures for vaccination have now improved above their very low level in 2008; as my New Year message I wanted to encourage you to make sure that you and your family are vaccinated. Measles, mumps and rubella are all diseases that should be eradicated from the UK and anyone who has the misfortune to become seriously ill or even die from one is completely unnecessary.
This NHS website has some excellent information about Measles which is a good place to look if you are in need of more information to put your mind at ease. You can see on the website that Measles is the easiest to catch (out of Measles Mumps and Rubella) and that with a 90% vaccination rate the disease will stop being spread completely. BUT, most importantly, with a 95% vaccination rate the disease could be entirely removed from the UK.
Anyway, I better get back to all my university work, I have several hundred more words to write before I can go to bed. All the best for the rest of 2010.
J
