BrainWaves #140 Of measles and men

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities. Episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021.

Originally released: May 30, 2019

Since January 1, 2019, there have been nearly 900 confirmed measles cases across 24 states in the United States. This is 10 times greater than the number of cases in the US 3 years ago, and it is the largest outbreak the US has seen since 1994. The month of May also marks the first reported case of measles in the state of Pennsylvania, where BrainWaves is produced. So this week on the program, Jim Siegler speaks with Dr. Erika Mejia (pediatrician) about the medical and sociopolitical triggers for this outbreak, the misconceptions of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, and finally, what you can do to keep measles from "going viral."*

Produced by James E Siegler and Erika Mejia. Music courtesy of Advent Chamber Orchestra, Coldnoise, Josh Woodward, Kevin McLeod, and Lee Roosevere. Sound effects by Mike Koenig and Daniel Simion. BrainWaves' podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used for clinical decision-making. Be sure to follow us on Twitter (now X) @brainwavesaudio for the latest updates to the podcast.

REFERENCES

Bester JC. Measles and measles vaccination: a review. JAMA Pediatr 2016;170(12):1209-15. PMID 27695849

Bester JC. Not a matter of parental choice but of social justice obligation: children are owed measles vaccination. Bioethics 2018;32(9):611-19. PMID 30229958

Campbell H, Andrews N, Brown KE, Miller E. Review of the effect of measles vaccination on the epidemiology of SSPE. Int J Epidemiol 2007;36(6):1334-48. PMID 18037676

Fournet N, Mollema L, Ruijs WL, et al. Under-vaccinated groups in Europe and their beliefs, attitudes and reasons for non-vaccination; two systematic reviews. BMC Public Health 2018;18(1):196. PMID 29378545

Maglione MA, Das L, Raaen L, et al. Safety of vaccines used for routine immunization of U.S. children: a systematic review. Pediatrics 2014;134(2):325-37. PMID 25086160

Murch SH, Anthony A, Casson DH, et al. Retraction of an interpretation. Lancet 2004;363(9411):750. PMID 15016483

Perry RT, Halsey NA. The clinical significance of measles: a review. J Infect Dis 2004;189 Suppl 1:S4-16. PMID 15106083

Poland GA, Jacobson RM. The age-old struggle against the antivaccinationists. N Engl J Med 2011;364(2):97-9. PMID 21226573

Trump’s tweet: https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/449525268529815552?lang=en

*Truth be told, measles claims the lives of 100,000 people around the globe every year. It has already gone viral. This was just a figure of speech.

We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode’s original release date.