'You can't deny the science': Why all Nova Scotians should get vaccinations - Action News
Home WebMail Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 03:52 AM | Calgary | -1.0°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Nova Scotiahealth hacks

'You can't deny the science': Why all Nova Scotians should get vaccinations

Now that Nova Scotia has joined the rest of Canada in offering afree rotavirus vaccine to all newborns, it's a good opportunity for adultsto ensurethey're also up-to-date with immunizations, says health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton.

Health-care consultant says anti-vaccination movement derailing efforts to eradicate some diseases

The rotavirus vaccine is administered orally at the ages of two, four and six months. (CBC)

This is part of a series from CBC's Information Morning where Halifax health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton discusses her"health hacks" ways to make your experience with the health-care system better.

Now that Nova Scotia has joined the rest of Canada in offering afree rotavirus vaccine to all newborns, it's a good opportunity for adultsto ensurethey're also up to date with immunizations, says health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton.

She said it's alarming how much the anti-vaccinationmovement has derailed efforts to eradicatecertain diseases.

"People are either losing faith in the necessity of immunization or, you know, just don't believe that it works and that is a huge, huge public-health issue," Hamptontold CBC's Information Morning.

She is urging people to "believe in the science" and make sure they educate themselves about the new rotavirus vaccine.

Rotavirus can causewatery diarrhea, vomiting and fever. It will makealmost all children who aren't immunized sick by the time they are fiveyears old, Hampton said.

Limited window to get vaccine

Starting in 2020, Nova Scotia parents who immunize their children will be able to take their babies to a primary-care provider to get the rotavirus vaccineat two, four and six months.

The oral vaccine will be administered along with regularly scheduled public vaccines.

About a third of children who contract the disease need to see a family doctor, while 15 per cent end up in the emergency department and seven per centneed to be hospitalized.

"The key to this vaccine is all three doses need to be given before the baby's eight months old," Hampton said.

Health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton says it's a cause for concern that measles is on the rise again because of a decline in immunizations. (Robert Short/CBC)

Hampton said if people don't have a health provider or don't want to talk to them about immunizations, theycan go online to find out whether they areup to date.

When it comes to immunization, there is no such thing as alternative science, she said.

"People who don't believe in the science of vaccination in my mind are on par with people who are members of the Flat Earth Society. You can't deny the science."

Hampton points to the case of measles as an indication the anti-vaccinationmovement is having an impact on the spread of diseases that at one time were under control.

Before the measles vaccination was introduced in 1963, the virus killed about 2.6 million people a year. After 1963, there was an immediate decline, she said.

But that started to change beginning in2016. That year in Europe, there were about 5,000 documented cases ofmeasles, then 24,000 in 2017 and 84,000 in 2018, Hampton said.

She said the beliefs of anti-vaxxersinfluence about 20 to 30 per cent of the general population.

"That's when the protection from communicable disease through immunization starts to break down," Hampton said.

READ MORE FROM OUR HEALTH HACK SERIES

With files from CBC's Information Morning and Jean Laroche