Resurgence of Infectious Diseases and the Antivaccine Movement, what is Happening in Mexico?

Abstract

In recent years, a worldwide decline in vaccination has been documented due to complex and diverse causes resulting in the resurgence of infectious diseases. In 2017, 173,330 confirmed cases of measles were presented in 183 countries; in Mexico only twenty cases have been reported, associated to importation. In 2019, it was 28 years since the elimination of polio in the Americas; currently there have been outbreaks in 21 countries and the virus is endemic in Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. There have also been two epidemics of pertussis in the United States (2010 and 2014) and 314 cases were reported in Mexico. All of the above could be explained in part by the anti-vaccine movement, defined as the rejection of the vaccine despite its availability, which arose after a research published in Lancet by Wakefield et al, in which the mmr vaccine was associated with autism. Lancet withdrew it putting in doubt those conclusions, that research is considered one of the biggest scientific frauds in history, which caused a fall in vaccination rates. Multiple studies have refuted the anti-vaccine argument as demonstrating a decrease in morbidity and mortality from the use of vaccines by 92% and 99%, respectively. It is necessary to use scientifically supported strategies to prevent the growth of this phenomenon. The anti-vaccine movement has also led to various ethical approaches, such as whether immunization of children should be mandatory, among others.