JAKARTA, iNews.id – There are several myths about vaccines and immunization milling about in the community. Many myths make people reluctant to live it vaccination.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also agrees that one in 10 global health threats is people’s doubts about vaccines. In line with this, Windhi Kresnawati, a pediatrician from the Care Parents Foundation, said that the circulation of a myth has been an obstacle to the vaccination program for a long time.
He expressed this in the Handling Committee Webinar Covid-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN), Monday (12/10/2020), with the theme ‘Checking Facts on Vaccine Myths’.
Whatever myths need to be corrected, here is Windhi’s explanation.
1. Myths of infectious diseases can be avoided with a healthy lifestyle alone.
Windhi did not deny that a healthy lifestyle is a good habit. However, he warned that this method was not effective enough to prevent infection with certain diseases. The facts about this assumption can be seen in the United States. When the measles vaccine was discovered in the US in 1963, the disease gradually disappeared. Even in 1974, the US government declared that they were measles-free.
What needs to be underlined is that the pattern and lifestyle of US citizens from 1963 to 1974 has not changed. This means that the biggest role in the loss of measles in the US is immunization or vaccination. Not just a healthy lifestyle.
This condition began to change when in the US, sects or community groups began to doubt the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella). This was followed by a growing number of people doubting the role of the measles vaccine.
“As a result, in 2018 the United States experienced another measles epidemic. This is because many immigrants from other countries did not vaccinate and had high vaccination refuses,” said Windhi.
2. Myth that children who are immunized are still sick.
Windhi explained that even if they experience illness, the severity experienced by immunization patients is very light. Children who are immunized, if sick, will avoid disability and death.
“And don’t forget, if you are not immunized and you are not sick, be grateful to the person who was immunized. Because that is herd immunity. When we are among healthy people, we do not catch the disease,” said Windhi.
3. The myth that vaccines contain dangerous substances.
Windhi emphasized that this was wrong. Vaccines that have been mass produced must meet the main requirements, namely safe, effective, stable and cost efficient. That is, the length of the process.
“After it is declared safe, it is used by the wider community under monitoring. If our country is under BPOM. Because there is one finding of unwanted side effects, it can be withdrawn and usually it is caught in the early phase,” said Windhi.
4. Vaccine myths cause autism.
Windhi confirmed that there is no link between the vaccine content against autism in children. This has been proven in in-depth and long research, even more than 10 years. Thimerosal is one of the vaccine ingredients that was accused of triggering autism in children. This thimerosal functions as a vaccine preservative.
The United States abolished thimerosal in 1999 for fear that it could trigger autism. But the fact is, after thimerosal was abolished, the autism rate in the United States didn’t go down.
“The number of autism has actually increased. This means that there is no relationship between autism and thimerosal,” said Windhi.
Researchers also looked at thimerosal levels in the bodies of autistic children and non-autistic children. As a result, there is no difference between the two. This further confirms that thimerosal does not cause autism, but genetics.
“So don’t be consumed by hoaxes with thimerosal causes of autism. There are lots of researches and it’s easy to find them on the internet,” said Windhi.
5. Myth vaccines contain aborted fetal cells.
Windhi also denied this. He explained that viruses do need a host in the form of living cells to survive and reproduce. For example, the measles, rubella, polio, and even SARS Cov-2 viruses require a host in the form of living cells.
In making vaccines, the virus will indeed infect the living cells and is produced over and over again over the years leaving the original cells. Meanwhile, what is taken as a vaccine component is part of the virus or virus itself.
“So, if someone says there are fetal cells being used, it happened in the 1960s, where it was used legally to make a vaccine and that is the only process that occurs. So, are there fetal cells in the vaccine? The answer is, there is only the result. the product, namely in the form of the virus only, “said Windhi.
6. Myths of diseases that already have a vaccine, no need for vaccination anymore.
This too is clearly a hoax. Many studies have shown that a decrease in the rate of vaccination leads to an increase in the specific diseases that these vaccines fight against. This had happened in Indonesia in mid-late 2017. Initially the diphtheria outbreak occurred in Java and spread to Sumatra. The government also decided to carry out national immunization and to eliminate diphtheria immunization until the age of 19 years.
“In the US it also happened, in 2018 the immunization rate dropped and reappeared. Polio had reappeared in Papua, even though we once got the polio-free flag from the WHO. Rubella measles is still threatening because of the many hoaxes. So be careful, if the numbers start to fall and we are facing this epidemic very suffering, “said Windhi.
7. The issue of halal-haram vaccines
Windhi said that this issue only occurs in Indonesia. Even in the Middle East with Muslim-majority countries, the pros and cons of the halal vaccine do not occur. All people in the world also agree on the importance of vaccines.
“And pilgrims must be vaccinated. That’s why I said it was funny, why do we do it. So the trigger was Trypsin which was borrowed from pork enzymes to produce good harvests. In order to get a vaccine component,” said Windhi.
He said the public needs to understand that no pork part is included in the vaccine. This enzyme will be purified again, so that the intermediate components do not enter the vaccine. When the production process comes in contact with enzymes from pork, in the end, only the virus is included in the vaccine.
“If it still doesn’t want to. Because it intersects, we refer to other developed countries which are predominantly Muslim and MUI which have conveyed halal. For good and in a situation to prevent heavier and more dangerous diseases, the halal vaccine,” he said.
Those were some examples of myths about vaccines that are still circulating in the community. Vaccination is a powerful way to break the chain of disease transmission, including later Covid-19. (CM)
Editor : Tuty Ocktaviany
