As long as one has practiced the profession of historian, taught history or simply studied the evolution of phenomena over time, it regularly happens that one reaches the limits of this popular saying: “one must study the past to avoid repeating mistakes.
I was stunned a few days ago by the rise in measles cases in Florida, but even more so by the words of the local public health official.
Vaccination is a major historic gain
Joseph Ladapo, close to Governor DeSantis, is this public health official who stood out during the COVID epidemic.
Dr Joseph Ladapo
Archive photo, AFP
He has once again ignored CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines by refusing to encourage vaccination.
Every time I teach Western history to my students, I emphasize that from the scientific developments of the 18e and 19e centuries, the life expectancy of Westerners will continue to increase. Among the major scientific developments, we find vaccination.
If life expectancy barely exceeded 30 years in the 1700s, it is now common in the Western world that we become septuagenarians or octogenarians enjoying a quality of life that continues to improve.
I know that aging brings new challenges, but are we going to blame science for allowing us to live better and longer? In 2020, the magazine Quebec Science reminded us that once deadly microbes like smallpox, polio and tuberculosis have been eradicated.
The same was true for measles until very recently, thanks to a safe and almost 100% effective vaccine which, after two doses, allowed us to forget this virus and its complications.
The shadow of misinformation and partisan politics hangs over this comeback of measles in certain places, including Florida. For a significant number of experts, we even combine all the conditions to face a “perfect storm”.
Populism and unnecessary risks
If there is one major and noble role that a State must fulfill, it is that of protecting its population. Florida’s leaders are currently failing in their duty. This duty is not to oblige, but rather to raise awareness and encourage best practices.
It is absolutely scandalous that a health official does not base his decisions on evidence and is participating in a so-called culture war rather than thinking about the good of the community.
In an interview with the Axios website on February 12, vaccination expert Paul Offit (pediatrician) said that the return of measles was just the proverbial canary in the mine.
That on 21e century we are witnessing the return of viruses that we had eliminated should concern us all. Once again, it is the reign of opinion and individualism which serves the common good.