Recently, the health department and schools in the area have sent out notices that pertussis has been identified in our county. Pertussis, better known as whooping cough, is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. While it often mimics the symptoms of a cold, it is highly communicable and especially dangerous to children. There have been documented deaths related to this outbreak. Children receive an inoculation against pertussis in conjunction with tetanus and diphtheria.
Also in the news recently has been the outbreak of Polio in an Amish Community in Minnesota. The polio virus was a scourge throughout the world. Polio is a virus which paralyzes muscle groups of the body and can be fatal. Polio was the virus that Dr. Jonus Salk discovered could be attacked through inoculation, i.e. the prophylactic immunization of the population. Through immunization, it was hoped that polio could be wiped off the face of the earth.
The question must be asked, if this is the case, why are there outbreaks of pertussis and polio? The answer is complicated. Come to find out that the pertussis inoculation only remains effective for 5 to 10 years. Ongoing boosters are required for continuing protection. However, if widespred inoculation for pertussis were carried out, the bacteria could be eliminated. As for polio, the common serum used for polio inoculation until 2000, the oral serum, used a greatly weakened strain of the virus. It caused the virus in very rare cases (one in every 13 million doses). The fight against polio has been deemed a success because most of the population are inoculated, thus limiting the transfer of the disease and making outbreaks rare.
The prophylactic immunization of populations has been credited with the extermination of smallpox and greatly increased the life expectancy and quality of life worldwide.
Since the year 2000, however, the United States has used a serum which utilizes a dead form of the virus). The virus which infected the Amish children in Minnesota was the same strain as the oral virus strain. The question remains, why did they get polio in the first place? The answer is clear…they were never inoculated. There has been a minority of people who refuse to inoculate their children. They cite the unproven negative or negligible effects that are possible (like the infection rate of 1 in 13 million doses). The fact remains, they and their families are being protected by the rest of the community who do get inoculated and thus limit the transfer. Within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there is a small minority of these people.
In political science, those people who take advantage of public goods without contributing to the cost or partaking in the risk are called free riders. The problem is, if everyone was a free rider, there would be no public good. From a political science perspective, these people are typically taken care of through group pressure or force of law. While most communities require inoculations in order for children to attend schools, many have opted out of inoculation programs citing religious or family beliefs. From a gospel perspective, what of these people? They are selfishly taking advantage of the rest of society. Is this consistent with the teachings of the savior?