Mr. Tamisue took an antibody test for rubella on June 6 at 10:19
Mr. Tamisuedai, a former track and field athlete who participated in three Olympic Games, received information about a free coupon for antibody testing for "rubella" and vaccination.
Although he was tested and vaccinated safely, he analyzed that there are issues with the spread of vaccinations at present. If you get vaccinated, you can prevent serious damage not only to yourself but also to others.
I will think about solving problems with Mr. Tamisue.
What is a coupon in the first place?
I will explain it as simply as possible.
When rubella was prevalent in Japan in 2012-2013 and 2018-2019, the problem was congenital rubella syndrome, which causes damage to the eyes, ears, and heart of the baby when a pregnant woman gets rubella.
Rubella can be prevented by vaccination, but the "inoculated blank generation" who were not vaccinated as children were men born from April 1962, 37 (Showa 4) to April 2, 1979 (Showa 54).
I am now a man between 4 and 1 years old.
When this generation was in junior high school, only girls of the same generation were eligible for regular vaccinations.
In order to prevent men of this generation from becoming "the cause of the spread of infection", the government has been sending out coupons for rubella antibody tests and vaccinations free of charge in principle since 2019 in order to somehow get vaccinated.
It was originally planned to end in three years, but due to the Corona disaster, it was not used for an additional three years.
Still, according to the latest country summary, only about 3 in 3 people have used rubella coupons.
The generation that has not received it
He was born in May 1978 and is truly a blank generation for vaccinations.
I thought that I should get vaccinated against rubella someday because it was about me, but after participating in an event, I learned about congenital rubella syndrome and the need for my generation to prevent it.
When I looked for a coupon that should have arrived at my home, I couldn't find it, so I applied to the local government where I live to reissue it and received the coupon at the municipal office.
First, an antibody test.
It is a test to find out if you are immune to rubella.
It is said that rubella is difficult to get infected once you get it, and many people think that it is okay because they have had it as a child.
There is such a survey.
In a survey of 875 "blank generation" men nationwide who had not yet been tested for antibodies, 55% of them answered that they had been vaccinated against rubella as a child. More than half.
The overwhelming majority of people mistakenly thought it was another vaccination they had received at the time.
Since she doesn't remember clearly whether she contracted rubella as a child, she visited a clinic in Tokyo with a coupon to get an antibody test.
There was a little accident here.
The coupon I took with me was a ticket for public sports facilities such as gymnasiums and swimming pools in the municipality where I lived.
It was indeed handed to me at the municipal office, but it was a mistake in issuance.
Even at the government office, it may be rare to issue rubella coupons.
Mr. Tamisue: "It's also my fault that I didn't check it properly."
I regained my mind and took an antibody test at my own expense on this day.
A small amount of blood is collected and the test is completed.
In the blink of an eye, Mr. Tamisue seemed to be a little out of rhythm, "Is it over yet?"
The test results came out about a week later, but I thought it would be a hassle to come back to hear the results, so I decided to have him vaccinated on the spot.
After completing the vaccination, Mr
. Sue said, "It's easier than I imagined, and going to the dentist is more painful and a little stressful."
By the way, the result of the antibody test that came out later was a test method called the HI method, and the value was "16 times".
Although it was not completely immune to it, it was "at a level where vaccination must be considered in order to prevent it more reliably."
It is possible that you have contracted rubella somewhere in the past, but it was thought that the antibody level was decreasing.
Just to be sure, I asked my mother if she had rubella when she was a child, but she replied, "I don't remember."
Mr. Tamisue's analysis: Why it is difficult to expand vaccination
This time, he learned about the importance of rubella vaccination and actually "moved", but he analyzes that there are issues in the spread of vaccination.
First of all, "If there is an imminent crisis like Corona, we can understand the needs, but at the moment, there is no sense of urgency."
"It's even more difficult to have an altruistic side that you should do not only for your own health, but also for everyone," he says.
As mentioned above, Mr. Tamisue himself had only a preliminary knowledge about rubella vaccination that "it is about me, so I should take it someday."
In addition, there are issues with the procedures leading up to vaccination.
"I actually heard about the regrets of pregnant women, so I was told that I had to do it, so I overcame it, but the procedure was a little troublesome," she says.
"It is important to design that people are encouraged to take action if they notice the system," he says, suggesting that testing should be incorporated into company health checkups and other medical examinations, or if vaccinations can be administered naturally in the form of workplace vaccinations conducted during the new coronavirus.
Mr. Tamisue: "It is better to prevent diseases that can be stopped or prevented, but there are not many diseases that can be prevented by the people around you taking measures."
Infection spreads "triggered by you"
As Mr. Tamisue suggested, is it possible to voluntarily encourage desirable behavior by giving people a small opportunity?
Fumio Otake, a specially appointed professor at Osaka University's Graduate School of Economics who specializes in behavioral economics, continues to test rubella antibodies and tests to increase the number of people who are vaccinated.
From January to March 2020, Dr. Otake's research group conducted a survey of 1,3 men in the "vaccination blank generation" nationwide to find out what messages are effective in immunization.
Until now, the government has called for testing and vaccination with the message "to protect the future baby" to prevent infection of pregnant women.
However, Dr. Otake's research found that awareness of the medical effects of rubella on fetuses had not progressed, and that many people had not received the message.
Therefore, when we changed the way we called out to a more direct content, such as the possibility that the baby could be disabled due to "you trigger," we found that the number of people who actually took the antibody test increased by 7.5 points compared to the previous call by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Professor
Otake: "People have a normalcy bias that tends to assume that even if you tell them you're going to get sick, they're okay. Instead, it is effective to tell them that you may harm people's health because of you. For example, in the event of a disaster, if you say, "It's going to be difficult if you don't evacuate," they will say, "I'm okay," but if you tell them, "If you don't evacuate, the people around you won't run away, so other people will be in danger." It's the same as that."
Also called in a mini-drama
We are also working on a variety of other appeals.
For those who think they have been vaccinated, a new poster has been created asking the question, "Do you think you have rubella antibodies?" and emphasizing that "you were not officially vaccinated as a child."
We have also created videos to convey these messages and published them online.
I created the "Office" and "Wedding" editions.
In the office version, when a competition is planned and all colleagues high-five and rejoice, only the manager of the boss who has not been tested for rubella antibodies or vaccinated is not allowed to join.
Female employee
: "If I get pregnant and the section manager gets rubella, it may affect my baby. Even though it's free. I respected the section chief, but I can't get close to him anymore."
The video has been viewed more than 230.6 million times so far, and in June, a shortened 15-second version was shown on board the Osaka Monorail.
"Free" is one and a half years left
As of June 2023, there are concerns about the spread of measles (measles).
If the antibody titer of rubella is low, you can get the MR vaccine to prevent measles and rubella infection for free, but rubella can also be vaccinated twice and immunity lasts almost for life.
Seasonal influenza vaccinations are an annual occurrence due to different epidemic types, but rubella and measles are twice in a lifetime.
One more time.
The free coupon is only valid for a little over one and a half years.
Network News Department Desk
Mika
Yamamoto Participated in the NHK Stop Rubella Project since 2013