Opinion: I helped declare the U.S. measles-free in 2000. I’m dismayed by where we are now
“I write on this anniversary to bear witness to the recent but potentially fleeting miracle of elimination of measles,” writes Jonathan Temte.
I started my medical career in the early 1990s as a vaccine nihilist. The immunization seminar during my residency was dry and uninspiring. I offered vaccines to my patients and was adherent to the routine schedules, but certainly did not go out of my way to encourage or cajole. I neglected to have my first child vaccinated against chickenpox; the scars are still present.
Twenty-five years ago this week, however, I attended the 2000 CDC Measles Elimination Meeting in Atlanta. I had been asked to represent the American Academy of Family Physicians at this event, arriving with my relative youth and little to offer, other than an understanding of primary care practice. In 2000 alone, 1 million children from across the globe died of measles.
