My current topic is the “Measles Cases and Outbreaks in Germany and the United States”

The measles outbreak in Berlin in February has sparked a debate about vaccination in Germany. There is also a discussion about whether there should be a requirement for parents to vaccinate their children. Berlin is affected by the worst measles-wave since vaccinations must be reported. However, measles vaccinations should be voluntary for the time. Pregnant women, patients and the elderly who cannot be vaccinated, are reliant on others have made these vaccinations.

Federal Health Minister Gröhe want to inform people more about the consequences of absent immunization. In his opinion the vaccination gaps in Germany are too large and so he hopes that a debate about the current measles outbreak can make people aware of the risks and change their attitude. If this don’t work it can be possible to introduce a duty for vaccination. Gröhe points out that people who refuse to vaccinate usually live in the same community. When measles find its way into these communities, outbreaks are more likely to occur and controlling the disease becomes harder.
It’s also necessary to be opposed to panicmongering and opponents of vaccination. The scientific and medical consensus is clear: Vaccinations are safe, and they work. There is only a minimal risk of side effects. Much higher are the sometimes dramatic and life-threatening risks of measles diseases. Who does not vaccinate his own child, endangers other children in kindergarten or school and behaves irresponsible.
Background of the debate is a serious outbreak of measles in Berlin, where in October more than 570 cases have been reported. Two weeks ago an 18 month old boy died from the disease. In a district of Berlin, called Lichtenwalde, remained a secondary school on Monday a week ago closed as a precaution for a day. Reason was a serious infectious disease from an adolescent.

The Berlin Speaker of the Professional Association of Paediatricians, Jakob Maske, described the outbreak in the capital as "disaster from a medical point of view”. Small children less than one year are particularly at risk. This group can only be protected if the environment is vaccinated. If mothers are vaccinated, they can pass on antibodies for example during breastfeeding, so that they will have the so-called maternal passive immunity. Children under eleven months should not be vaccinated against measles.

Jakob Maske sees the outbreaks in Berlin less related to the refusal of vaccination: the city with its big events and the living together of many people in a small space give a good breeding ground for disease. Public authorities suppose that the outbreak began among asylum seekers from Bosnia, Herzegovina and Serbia. They have not been vaccinated routinely in the confusion of the civil war of the 1990s.

The Greens and the Left protest against a compulsory vaccination and support the self-determination of parents. Pediatricians appreciate a compulsory vaccination not as realistic. "A general vaccination will not win recognition because of the resistors in the population", said the president of the Professional Association of Paediatricians. However, all children should be required to have a vaccination record at the start in kindergarten or school.

Why are vaccinations so important? How bad can it be?
Measles are not a harmless childhood disease. The infection is highly infectious and weakens the immune system. The virus is transmitted through droplets released into the air we breathe - when sneezing, coughing or talking. It takes about 8 to 14 days between infection and first symptoms appear. The disease begins with flu-like symptoms such as fever, runny nose and cough, red eyes and sore throat, then the typical epidemic appears. About 10 to 20 percent of the measles cases lead to complications such as otitis media and pneumonia and encephalitis, which can even be life threatening and sometimes leads to lifelong damage and mental disabilities. According to statistics, die two of 1,000 patients from the consequences of measles infection. It’s possible to get an inflammation of brain years after having overcome an attack of measles.

It is stated goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) to eliminate measles worldwide. Germany has been committed to eliminate the infectious disease until 2015.
The US also complain about one of the most violent measles epidemics in 14 years.
In the US, many people are suffering from measles since December 2014 - many infected in an amusement park in California. The US are fighting just against a violent outbreak of measles. There is also a debate in society about a compulsory vaccination. A total of 154 cases of measles have been known there since December. According to the “Authority for infection control” probably a Disneyland visitor from overseas dragged the measles.
A total of 17 states are now affected by a wave of infections. Last year (2014), there were, according to the “Authority for infection control” over 644 confirmed cases of measles in the US - the most since 2000. At that time the disease was really declared eliminated in the United States. But 2015 is getting off to a very strong start already.
Why do people choose not to vaccinate?
Most schools already consist on compulsory vaccination. However, most states allow exceptions for religious or moral reasons. Tens of thousands of parents have made use of these exceptional rules and don’t let their children vaccinate - usually either distrust of the government or the pharmaceutical industry or for religious or moral reasons. For example, the majority of Amish people refuges a vaccination.
According to estimates by doctors about one-tenth of the children in the US are not adequately protected. In the media and social networks, the topic “measles vaccination” is discussed sharp. The US government don’t want a compulsory vaccination yet, but challenges the parents to vaccinate their children against measles.