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.'"
Or maybe it's the vaccine (Score:2, Interesting)
Just last month, a friends kids class had 8 become infected with measles, but they were all vaccinated.
Vaccinations discriminate against middle class (Score:5, Interesting)
Walgreen's and other facilities would do vaccinations, but my insurance would not pay because they are not a Primary Care facility. I would have to pay full price.
So basically, I have to pay for insurance which covers vaccinations AND I still have to pay full price for vaccinations, while if I were poor, I would neither have to pay for insurance nor pay for vaccinations.
To me, the fact that a Doctor can refuse to perform a service because they don't like their profit margin on it even though the AGREED to accept that amount in their contract, is BS. This is akin to a retailer advertising a model of TV for a cheap price, but not having ever even purchased any of said model to be sold.
Re:Mandotory insurance (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Duh (Score:2, Interesting)
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".
Re:Duh (Score:5, Interesting)
What if I told you I was the Emperor of Andromeda and that my farts didn't stink and every time I touched a dollar bill, it turned into a bar of gold?
Talk is cheap, mate, and even if, on the outside chance you aren't some stupid antivaccer trying to make your objections sound the least bit rational, then I'd say the weight of your fellow biologists outweighs any particular claim you may make, and it is them you would have to debate, and it is them you would most likely get used to.
Oh, and stay the fuck away from my kids, you arrogant asshole.
Re:Duh (Score:5, Interesting)
The funny thing is anti-vax started out on the hippie left, and spread to the religiot right.
Re:The really sad thing is vaccines improving (Score:1, Interesting)
I know what pertussis is - we're in a zone where it's a major problem at the epidemic level.
You fail to realize I work in medical research at one of the top medical research universities in the world - as in #4 for global health programs.
We sometimes get things due to our people in my department traveling to Africa and other places, or at the trial stages. Typically we get flu vaccines a few weeks before most hospitals do, for the same reason. Probably half the researchers here are from other countries, although some become American citizens.
It's like today's incorrect media interpretation that "Alzheimer's" is decreasing worldwide. It isn't. The rate of dementia is decreasing in total quantity due to better programs, but dementia is frequently caused by things other than AD.
I don't have time to argue with you over what is happening in some other place. You probably think the HIV vaccine trials failed in Boston, for example, not realizing we have other HIV vaccine trials ongoing including one that's a joint program with the FCHRC a few blocks away.
I never said YOU could get the shot. I said I got the shot. For all I know it may be years before they roll it out to the general public. It was new, so that's quite possible.
Re:Duh (Score:4, Interesting)
As a matter of fact, I met some fishermen in Greece who pray and even leave offerings at a Poseidon shrine. I am not quite sure how much they actually believe, nor do I know how much my neighbors, who go to Church on Sunday, believe in Jesus's divinity.
But I do know that either one billion of Christians are right and one billion of Muslims are wrong about Jesus's divinity, or vice versa. So, even if I were, for some reason, to accept one holy book before all others, I would still know that significantly more than two thirds of religious people are dead wrong, either because they reject the Savior, or the Prophet, or whomever.
And lets not forget that many Christian denominations' doctrines say that most Christians are dead wrong, or at least wrong enough not to have a shot at Heaven. The same applies across many divides inside other religions. I have not done the footwork myself, but I have read solid arguments that no matter who is right, more than 90% of religious people are wrong.
Now, I do not claim to know the Truth. I believe in small truths, like, for example, that it is impossible to disprove the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing entity. And I know better than to waste time on debating matters that cannot be disproved. But those are facts:facts:
1. More than ninety percent of all people on Earth are wrong in their religious beliefs.
2. The best predictor for people's religious beliefs is what they have been exposed to in their formative years.
3. Most holy texts assign heavy consequences to not having the right religious beliefs, and living according to them.
In light of the above, I have, personally, decided that I cannot respect, let alone worship a deity that's OK with the situation. So, at the end of the day, I make no difference between people who believe in Poseidon, and people who believe in the deity in the Bible/Torah/Qur'an. At at the end of my life, I may be in for a surprise. But I think I'm about as likely to be collected by the Chosers of the Slain as by a devil with a pitchfork.
Re:Duh (Score:4, Interesting)
Isn't that enough of an example?
The idea is sound. Whether it works for specific situations depends on the specific case just like everything else.
Re:Duh (Score:4, Interesting)