One of the most challenging aspects of being a physician in the era of instant access to information is the fact that patients can obtain unsubstantiated information from unreliable sources and give this evidence the same (or greater) weight as the considered experts of medical specialists.

For some time now there have been concerns that vaccines in general and the measles vaccine in particular are either related to or cause autism. To date, there is no definitive scientific evidence that that is the case. The proponents of such theories are often financially benefitting from these claims which mislead health care consumers. They also provide no justification or explanation as to why the medical community would knowingly place children at risk.

Now we have news from the CDC which indicates that the number of measles cases in the United States is rising; and that outbreaks are generally due to children that have not been immunized.

Within the blogosphere, there are already some authors, that are indicating that the rise in cases is not important.

Unfortunately, it is altogether too easy to lose sight of the significant benefits of the measles vaccine after years of it’s unmitigated success in the United States.

I would suggest that interested parties review this statistic:
Worldwide, the World Health Organization indicates that measles results in the s of 242,000 children annually. That represents 663 children per day or 27 children per hour.

Most of these cases occur in the developing world, and I am certain that those mothers would greatly appreciate the benefits of measles (or any other) vaccination.