U.S. Measles Cases Triple In 2013 462
An anonymous reader writes "The U.S. Centers for Disease Control have announced that measles cases in the U.S. spiked this year, rising to three times their recent average rate. It's partly due to a greater number of people traveling to the U.S. when they're infectious, but also because a frustrating number of people are either failing to have their children vaccinated, or are failing to do so in a timely manner. Dr. Thomas Friedman said, 'Around 90 percent of the people who have had measles in this country were not vaccinated either because they refused, or were not vaccinated on time.' Phil Plait adds, 'In all three of these outbreaks, someone who had not been vaccinated traveled overseas and brought the disease back with them, which then spread due to low vaccination rates in their communities. It's unclear how much religious beliefs themselves were behind the outbreaks in Brooklyn and North Carolina; it may have been due to widespread secular anti-vax beliefs in those tight-knit groups. But either way, a large proportion of the people in those areas were unvaccinated.'"
Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
It goes without saying that the moronic get what they deserve, though sadly, when herd immunity is compromised, sometimes the innocent (those who cannot be inoculated) pay the price too.
Thanks, Jenny McCarthy (Score:5, Insightful)
... and other idiots
Anti-vaxxers (Score:5, Insightful)
I actually have a co-worker who refused to get the MMR vaccine for his two children, both of whom came down with the measles last year. They didn't shun the vaccine because of religious reasons; rather, Jenny McCarthy convinced them that it would give their children autism. And while it's entertaining to watch this, and it's fun to sit back and mock these people, their belief system, and the consequences of their actions, the fact remains that these idiots are a real threat to our herd immunity.
The real answer to this is education, although that's almost as dirty a word as "vaccination" in 2013 United States.
The really sad thing is vaccines improving (Score:5, Insightful)
We even now have a permanent Tetanus combo booster shot (TDAP) instead of the old every ten year one (that probably expired, don't step on a rusty nail!).
Correlation is not causation, but not getting an MMR measles mumps rubella shot is just criminal. Without herd immunity we're starting to see hospitals requiring people to wear masks or stay in isolation wards, measures we never had to do before the "fad" of not getting shots started.
And, no, I don't care what your objections are - there are nasal spray versions of all the shots, so stop endangering everyone else with your stupidity.
Mandotory insurance (Score:3, Insightful)
Hopefully these people are not allowed in public or private schools or daycare. We care enough about our dogs and cats to not let them in kennels and grooming situations unless they have vaccinations. Why should we care about kids any less. I mean if someone want to start a vac-free school where everyone is not vaccinated, that is their right, but we shouldn't put innocent kids at risk.
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
It goes without saying that the moronic get what they deserve
The moronic parents aren't getting what they deserve, it's their children that are paying the price.
Re:stop the sensationalist crap (Score:4, Insightful)
tell that to the 175 cases. the attitude that "measles is not a concern in this country" will only ensure that rates triple again next year and the year after.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
A case of a rich nation blaming developing ones... (Score:2, Insightful)
that measles cases in the U.S. spiked this year, rising to three times their recent average rate. It's partly due to a greater number of people traveling to the U.S. when they're infectious...
I find it interesting that in times when there's been greater scrutiny of who comes to the US, and in some cases tourist dollars having significantly reduced because of the tougher US visa regime and other factors [dailymail.co.uk], there are articles like those quoted that "blame" the incidence of disease on outsiders. Incredible!!
The USA should man up and state categorically that some of its citizens are behaving like uneducated villagers by refusing to vaccinate. Do not blame those you call aliens because measles has been and still is on the decline everywhere else.
What will happen when polio strikes?
Re:Duh (Score:1, Insightful)
I'll take my theology from people who know something about it, thanks.
It may be God's will that I became ill, or it may not. There are a great many reasons why the personal difficulties of an illness may result in a net good. However, I am indeed expected to maintain my existence in the absence of a clear overriding mandate. That God may choose not to eliminate medical science and human free will (which your form of slippery-slope argument will always get around to demanding) for the purposes of curing my sickness, doesn't alter the proximate personal responsibility.
Not to worry (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The really sad thing is vaccines improving (Score:5, Insightful)
What he said should probably be qualified with the phrase "without a medical reason not to". My partner hasn't had all of her shots either, but that's because she had a heart transplant when she was 11 and has a compromised immune system. And I'm seriously pissed off at any fuckwit who, without a similarly good reason, puts her health at risk by not getting their own immunizations.
Re:A case of a rich nation blaming developing ones (Score:3, Insightful)
Who said anything about blame? In order for an outbreak to occur, you need a source for the infection as well as a vulnerable population. The article is simply stating that increased travel provides more sources of infection, while anti-science idiots in the United States provide the vulnerable population.
Yes, if the U.S. got the vaccination situation under control, no one would be particularly concerned about measles exposed visitors. That doesn't mean they aren't a factor in this present situation.
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
They deserve a fucking education.
What if I told you I know a very well educated micro biologist who refuses to vaccinate his 7 kids? His wife's education is in psychology, but they are still educated, and they steadfastly refuse to vaccinate and when I try to argue I'm told "you don't know enough science to argue with me".
I'd tell him he's being fucking stupid and tell him to get his kids vaccinated before he gets somebody killed. Want fries with that?
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
The only unclear one here is you.
Re:Not to worry (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the parents involved will blame the medical establishment for not saving their child.
Measles is a serious disease that we have an established and functional protection from that they refused to use but they will blame the doctors for not being able to save their snowflake from the disease. There have already been people in this thread claim Measles is not a big deal when before the vaccine it used to kill anywhere from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4. In fact every 10 killer in 1950 is no longer on the list because of vaccines and IIRC in 1950 Measles was number 2 on the fatality list, right behind small pox and in front of polio. Only one of those diseases is gone, with the anti-vax campaign we're going to see a resurgence in the other two unless they can get rid of polio before some jackass brings is back from Pakistan.
What a bunch of idiots (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Survivorship bias. If you had died from one of those illnesses, you wouldn't be able to post on Slashdot and tell everyone.
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
just because you were lucky doesn't mean that others are hypochondriacs: as somebody who is suffering lifelong health issues due to measles (when I got it there were no vaccines yet, it was a long time ago) anybody who doesn't vaccinate their kids for it deserve as much scorn as they get in my book, but unfortunately you can scorn all you want it will be their kids that pay the price of their parents' choice.
How would you like it if you had a kid, did not vaccinate them because of some mumbo jumbo you heard on daytime tv, they get measles and become deaf? what will you tell them when they grow up and figure out they have a lifetime of deafness to look forward to because of your choice? or maybe they get something even more fun like Meniere's (look it up) due to damages to the inner ear that happened due to the virus? or maybe simply they will die from it like a non insignificant number of kids do? what will you do then? or maybe you don't consider deafness, lifetime balance/vertigo and death "serious stuff"?
Re:Duh (Score:4, Insightful)
you might want to look at what OTHER things measles can do to you besides death, or maybe you find deafness a "not very important thing to worry about"?
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
What if I told you I know a very well educated micro biologist who refuses to vaccinate his 7 kids?
I'll tell you he's either (a) a kook, or (b) a visionary genius, and that only you get to decide which to believe when it's time to decide who your kids get to play with.
[Hint: Let them play with kids who had their vaccinations...]
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Nice, you survived. You have a daughter. She's happily married, you're expecting your first grandchild.
She gets rubella. Your grandchild is born severely disabled because of the disease, but will likely survive and live a long and unhappy life.
How do you feel?
Fact is that around 40-60% of children did not survive to adulthood before vaccinations. Most of them died to various infectious diseases that we are forgetting they ever existed because of vaccination. You can be that other 40-60% that survive. Congratulations of getting good cards in that particular game.
Re:Not to worry (Score:2, Insightful)
Will these reports reach the parents who need to hear them? I suspect any parent who reaches a "vaccines are bad" conclusion does so because their access to medical information is heavily filtered through particular propaganda objectives. They'll be the last to know and believe that "some kids dying" are connected to not vaccinating. Consider the same way an entire national population can be cowed into worrying more about terrorism --- which once killed < 3k people well over a decade ago --- than, e.g., automobile accidents (which kill more than that every month of every year), or even falls in the bathtub (far more deadly than Osama Bin Laden could ever dream of being; yet there's no public support for trillion dollar War on Porcelain). Rational evaluation of risks, for people entrenched in a media bubble that filters their perceptions, is unlikely to be a deciding factor.
Re:Thanks, Jenny McCarthy (Score:3, Insightful)
eCigarettes still have nicotine, which is *not* good for you. It causes high blood pressure and contributes to heart and circulatory disease in other ways as well.
Re: Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Measles prognosis:
There are many complications associated with measles. Some of the complications are very serious and occur most frequently in babies or adults who contract the disease. These include ear infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia. However, the most serious complication associated with measles is encephalitis, an infection of the brain. Encephalitis can lead to convulsions, hearing loss, and mental retardation, and affects approximately 1 of every 1,000 children infected with measles. Despite advances in medicine, measles can still occasionally be fatal because of these complications.
How is measles treated?
There is no treatment for measles. Once a person is infected, the virus must run its course (usually 10 to 14 days). Bed rest, acetaminophen, and other medications are often recommended or given to help treat symptoms.
TLDR: Measles is rarely fatal but there may be severe complications in 1 in 1,000. Otherwise it is two weeks of hell that they have no treatment for.
Word to the wise, if I had a kid who couldn't get the vaccine for some reason and they caught this from your kid. I would not be a happy camper.
Re:Duh (Score:5, Insightful)
Deaths are only PART of the damage from measles (Score:5, Insightful)
For every 1 person that dies, 2 people suffer brain damage or deafness, per the CDC.
http://www.medpagetoday.cominfectiousdiseasegeneralinfectiousdisease/43268 [www.medpag...ousdisease]
For measles, it says that for every
500 deaths, you have:
48,000 hospitalizations,
7,000 seizures, and
1,000 cases of permanent brain damage or deafness each year, according to the CDC.
So brain damage/deafness is about 2x as common as outright death from measles.
--PeterM
Re:The really sad thing is vaccines improving (Score:2, Insightful)
Way to change your tune, dipshit. Before, you maintained that European vaccines were safer. Oops, you're wrong! American vaccines have been Thimerosal for 12+ years - now you're all about the messaging and explaining to people about how the vaccine is totally safe.
Where are these self-righteous doctors who haven't been explaining vaccine safety? It seems to me that the entire fucking world, outside of you and your retarded friends, has been explaining vaccine safety for over a decade. Guess what, we're tired of it. We've explained it until we're blue in the face, from a hundred thousand different starting points. There are still idiots who want to believe Jenny McCarthy because blondes are better.
Produce ONE Doctor you feel fits the profile of the strawman that you just built, or STFU.