The Boston Globe has a story about the international spread of disease in a globalized world.
"When we talk about globalization, it's not only globalization of goods and services; it's people and their history, including incubating diseases," said Dr. Gerald T. Keusch, a global health specialist at the Boston University School of Public Health.
"We can no longer think about putting up quarantines at the borders and expect that it's going to work for infectious disease any better than it works for the resourceful, determined people who come across as economic migrants," Keusch said. "We can't put up a shield."
"The solution to vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States is very often improving global vaccine coverage," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "There are still millions of children and adults around the world who are not protected against measles."
Owen comments: Dr. Gerberding is exactly right. Tackling infectious diseases such as measles, for which there is a safe, inexpensive vaccine, in developing countries is a very cheap way to protect our own health, as well as to help others.
