Communicating Sustainability: Measles, Autism, and Saving the World
Even though I’ve only been in the Office for around two weeks, I’ve learned very quickly that the only thing that I knew about sustainability – that it has to do with environmental science – was wrong. Sustainability simply means preserving the world we live in, including the people who depend on it, for generations to come. As a result, it crosses into nearly every field. And perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of sustainability is one that is also most crucial – its relation to human health.
In 2011, there was a serious measles outbreak in Minneapolis, which resulted in over 3000 individuals being exposed to the disease. A new study published by Pediatrics revealed that the root cause of the epidemic was one unvaccinated child.
According to the authors, the 30-month child demonstrated clear early signs of measles upon returning to the United States from a trip to Kenya, where he presumably contracted the disease. Unfortunately, despite fever, cough, and vomiting, the child prior to effective diagnosis of measles ultimately passed the incredibly contagious virus on to another household member as well as three other children in a child day-care center. The measles quickly spread from individual to individual within the small Somali immigrant community in Minneapolis, a region generally considered to be a low vaccine uptake area.
Although only 21 people were diagnosed with measles directly related to the incident, researchers estimate that it was the largest outbreak of measles in the area for more than 20 years. According to the study, 16 of the 21 diagnosed with measles weren’t vaccinated, despite the fact that 9 of the 16 unvaccinated people were age-eligible for the MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine not only protects against measles but also mumps, rubella, and chicken pox. Over the group of unvaccinated people diagnosed with measles, 7 were not vaccinated due to safety concerns.
Over the last decade, Somali children living in this specific community have experienced a significant drop in MMR vaccine coverage. While in 2004 over 91 percent of children received vaccination, by 2010 the percentage dropped to 54 percent. Although there are a number of factors that could have led to this significant decrease, likely the main root cause is the misinformation about vaccination that spread throughout the U.S. linking vaccination to autism. (This original paper has been entirely discredited by professional health officials, researchers, and community leaders.)
This alarming information relates to sustainability in a number of ways. First of all, we as a species cannot begin to create and develop solutions to more “traditionally” sustainability issues relating to the environment without our health. Recycling, lobbying against clearcutting, protesting fracking, biodiversity conservation and everything that might immediately come to mind takes a backseat to being healthy enough to take action.
Second, this root cause of this issue – the one unvaccinated child – unveils some of the most fundamental problems behind a large majority of sustainability issues. First, people do not immediately recognize the consequences – both short-term and long-term – of the decisions that they make today, not only on themselves but on other people and the world around them. I’d guess that the parents of that child who chose not to vaccinate him had no idea it would lead to more than 20 other cases. Similarly, one might not know that not cutting plastic soda rings may end up entangling and killing marine animals.
This leads me to my second point – this issue proves my personal opinion that one of the major issues behind nearly every single environmental issue is a lack of communication – whether it’s between different fields, within the sustainability field, between the public and private sectors, or with the general public. Misinformation, in my opinion, is a major killer.
Fortunately, this also means there is a very simple solution to very complicated problems – communication and collaboration. If that Somali community in Minneapolis had been exposed to enough information that there is absolutely no link between vaccination and autism, they might have taken the time to vaccinate their child, especially if they had known how dangerous measles can become in serious cases. If people are aware that bottled water and tap water are essentially the same, they might stop buying plastic bottles of water.
Not only can we educate people (and ourselves!) about the simple roles that we can play in living sustainable lifestyles, but who knows – maybe the next great environmental breakthrough will come from someone who might not have traditionally had access to the right information. Regardless, I’m a firm believer that communication is key.
-Emily Li