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Medicine Science

Measles Outbreak In NYC 747

sandbagger writes "New York City may have to deal with a measles problem. New Yorkers are being urged to make sure all household members, including young children, are vaccinated. To date, there have been 16 confirmed cases and four hospitalizations. This follows news from the CDC in December that 2013 saw triple the average number of yearly measles cases. 2014 is off to an even worse start; there have been cases recently in the Boston metropolitan area and more than a dozen in the Bay Area as well. Vaccinations seem to be a victim of their own success — people look around and see no polio or measles and wonder why they should bother. Others repeat bogus claim about vaccines causing autism. How do you think we can get through to the anti-vaxxers?"
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Measles Outbreak In NYC

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  • Thanks Jenny (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:21AM (#46482381)

    Thanks a lot you dumb bitch.

  • Obvious Answer (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:22AM (#46482387)

    We should present to them the facts! That will sway their minds. /sarcasm...

  • testimonials (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:22AM (#46482391)

    http://www.followingvaccinations.com

    As long as trends like this happen, you won't get through to them.

  • Tell them a story (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:24AM (#46482415)

    Tell these people a story about a kid that got sick and nearly died because of not being vaccinated. It was recently shown to be effective, which makes sense, since these people seem to think emotionally rather than rationally. Evidence does nothing to convince them.

  • by dosius ( 230542 ) <bridget@buric.co> on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:25AM (#46482437) Journal

    People need to realize that Andrew Wakefield, the father of the anti-vax movement as we know it today, was discredited and disgraced for the shoddiness of his so-called "research".

    Oh yeah, and he had a vested interest in kids not getting MMR vax - I think he had ownership of a patent on a different rubella-only vaccine. Herp derp.

  • Re:Obvious Answer (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gr8Apes ( 679165 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:32AM (#46482497)
    Expose them to measles, mumps, diptheria, etc seems to work. [go.com] Maybe not compassionate, but neither is preaching ignorance and endangering society.
  • by egranlund ( 1827406 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:32AM (#46482499)

    How do you think we can get through to the anti-vaxxers?

    Unfortunately, I don't think anything will get through to them until their kids and loved ones start dying from very old and highly preventable diseases.

    Their mindset is one much like the followers of creationism, etc where they believe that:
    1) All scientists have been bought out by "big pharma" or
    2) That the consensus among the scientific community is some kind of organized ploy to sell more and more drugs.

    Because of this, no matter what scientists or public health officials say, they just plug their ears and go "LALALALALA".

  • by CanHasDIY ( 1672858 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:37AM (#46482573) Homepage Journal

    - free vaccinations

    That could work

    - no insurance coverage for treatment if you are not vaccinated

    Insurance companies would love that, but I'm pretty sure it would violate the ACA

    - fines for not vaccinating your children

    Unconstitutional.

    That leaves stupidity as the only reason not to get vaccinated./p>

    Stupidity, ignorance, religious preference (which I know a lot of people 'round these parts will lump in with stupidity), lack of access, distrust of the government, distrust of doctors, etc.

    Just because you can only think of one reason doesn't mean it's the only reason.

    there should be child abuse laws for not giving your child required medical care that kick in.

    Look, bud, if you don't like living in a country that promotes and supports individual liberty, you're free to either try and amend the Constitution or expatriate. But don't be a self-righteous, dickhead fundamentalist who demands laws be passed to support your opinion by taking rights and freedoms away from other people. 'Cuz that's fucked.

    You could also reverse it, i.e. a tax deduction for vaccination, in case the psychology works better that way.

    That's your best bet - provides the right incentive, and is Constitutionally sound. The flat-taxers won't like it, but since when does anyone care what a flat-taxer thinks?

  • Re:Thanks Jenny (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RockClimbingFool ( 692426 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:50AM (#46482729)
    Its a bit crass, but seriously? How is this post off topic? It is exactly on topic.
  • by fatboy ( 6851 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:52AM (#46482759)

    Ok, so *you think* your kid might become autistic, if vaccinated.... Better to have a live autistic child than one that is dead from whooping cough.

    When it came time to discuss this with our DR, she said to us, "You don't want to see what it's like to watch a child die from whooping cough." It took about 2 seconds for my wife and I to process that, and decide what the larger risk is.

  • by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:52AM (#46482767) Homepage

    Its sad, but if the kids of parents who only think on a base emotional level die then its clearing out the human gene pool. We should thank them.

  • Cut them off (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Swampash ( 1131503 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @10:53AM (#46482773)

    If you don't vaccinate your child, fine. But if you reject society like that then expect society to reject you.

    No vaccination? Forbidden from attending school. Forbidden from visiting a doctor. Forbidden from visiting any public facilities like libraries, train stations, or airports. Forbidden from riding a bus or train or taxi.

  • by grapes911 ( 646574 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @11:04AM (#46482885)
    Call me selfish, but that doesn't help my 8 month old daughter who can't yet get the vaccine and relies on herd immunity for the time being.
  • Re:MMR Outcry? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rickb928 ( 945187 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @11:06AM (#46482899) Homepage Journal

    Casually watching the autism debate, I see that autism is:

    - Now a spectrum, not a syndrome or disease. This has enlarged the affected population, enhancing the power of their advocates and increasing the urgency of finding a solution;

    - Being blamed (root cause) on vaccines, diet, environmental effects, technology, with a de-emphasis on genetics and prenatal care.

    - Used to describe many more behaviors, hence becoming a 'spectrum', not a syndrome or disease or even a process.

    - Described as a growing treat, capable of potentially impacting a majority of the population, being caused by a multitude of toxins, exposures, and behaviors, hence the urgency to find 'a cure'.

    This pattern is familiar to me. Have you other /.rs seen this before?

  • Re:Obvious Answer (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @11:10AM (#46482943) Journal

    Fuck it. Just ban their kids from attending public schools, daycares and the like. If they want to endanger their kids, they should not be permitted to endanger anyone else's.

  • Re:Obvious Answer (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ibwolf ( 126465 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @11:14AM (#46482995)

    Remember, those who do not vaccinate their children put their children at risk, but these are THEIR children, not 'ours'.

    This is simply not correct. There are a number reasons some children can not be vaccinated, including allergies and other health problems. Generally, if vaccinations are widespread, those that can not be vaccinated will benefit from the herd immunity afforded by general vaccination. When the number of non-vaccinated kids goes up, the effect of the herd immunity goes down putting the children that can not be vaccinated at risk.

  • Re:Obvious Answer (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dentin ( 2175 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @11:21AM (#46483105) Homepage

    Religion is no excuse to not be vaccinated. There should be no religious exception.

  • Re: Obvious Answer (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Newander ( 255463 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @11:59AM (#46483573)

    The problem is that the antivaxers have had their shots. It's their kids that are being put at risk. There is also the problem that they reduce herd immunity and put at risk individuals who are legitimately unable to have vaccinations such as very young babies and those with certain autoimmune diseases.

  • Re:Obvious Answer (Score:3, Insightful)

    by fustakrakich ( 1673220 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @12:20PM (#46483795) Journal

    If sick kids can out breed healthy ones and become a majority, what does that indicate to you?

  • Re:MMR Outcry? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by overshoot ( 39700 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @12:22PM (#46483835)

    Maybe this is just the half-time of the shots, and it's time to refresh? I.e. "2014, third dose recommended"

    If that were the case, you'd be seeing the new cases in people over the age of 30. Instead it's pretty much all kids.

  • Re:Thanks Jenny (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hrvatska ( 790627 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @12:32PM (#46483967)
    Jenny McCarthy couldn't have done it without news and talk shows presenting her views as being just as valid as real medical experts. It isn't so much 'Thanks Jenny' as 'Thanks Oprah for being more interested in ratings than public health'.
  • I skipped the second M of the MMR (mumps), as my sons exposure risk was minimal and it's very treatable with lower bad outcomes than the vaccine.

    Have you ever seen the mumps? What kind of sadistic bastard would rather see his kid suffer through that than a 5-second injection?

  • And you would most assuredly be wrong. Certainly not recently. We are quite careful about what we eat, tending only to eat those things God fashioned and directed us to eat.

    God provided me with a cheeseburger yesterday, and it was aluminumally delicious.

    Yes, I'm making fun of you. All opinions aren't equal, and yours is incredibly naive and dangerous. You're endangering your kids for no legitimate reason, you're a bad parent, and I have no desire to be tactful about this idiocy anymore.

  • MOD PARENT TRENDY (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 14, 2014 @01:01PM (#46484293)

    Yeah, so if I told a bunch of people to jump off a cliff and they did it, that would make me a mass murderer. Of course, you're going to be modded to +5, and since your viewpoint is so trendy around here (influx of Diggers like rats running from a flood), Dice will probably uncap the moderation to make a +6, Trendy! mod.

  • Re:Obvious Answer (Score:2, Insightful)

    by interkin3tic ( 1469267 ) on Friday March 14, 2014 @01:28PM (#46484609)
    You realize that's a value statement without any justification. It's not really a fact that you're stating there. I happen to agree with your opinion, that religion is not a good justification for being a health hazard, but there are plenty of people who would argue it IS an excuse not to be vaccinated.

    I'd argue it's not a valid excuse because it has the potential to get others sick, you're not just making a decision for yourself. Of course, one could say that line of reasoning, using indirect, unintended consequences, is isn't good because it could be extended to deny you of any other right. Like "Your gun might be stolen and used to murder someone: therefore you should not be able to own a firearm."

    My point is that it's not as black and white as you're making it, even though I think we all here agree with you.

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