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A lot of people think it's a conspiracy. That's usually argument #2 from the anti-vaxxers: the pharmaceutical industry makes the vaccines so obviously the vaccines are bad.
After criticizing Texas Gov. Rick Perry for mandating a vaccine for school girls, Rep. Michele Bachmann added some scary charges: She claimed to have just met a woman whose daughter suffered mental retardation from the vaccine, that it has "very dangerous consequences" and that it puts "little children's lives at risk."
Today on “The 700 Club,” televangelist Pat Robertson waxed nostalgic about the days when kids who had the measles and mumps simply lived through the experience and “just got immune” rather than receiving a vaccination. Not only did Robertson come out against vaccination mandates, but he also suggested that water fluoridation could lead to detrimental health effects.
The State Republican Party of Texas, out of control liberals!
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To cap it off, Texas Republicans also have an anti-vaccination stance:
Immunizations: All adult citizens should have the legal right to conscientiously choose which vaccines are administered to themselves, or their minor children, without penalty for refusing a vaccine. We oppose any effort by any authority to mandate such vaccines or any medical database that would contain personal records of citizens without their consent.
Don't get me wrong - there are definitely some liberals on the wrong side of this issue, and I have contempt for every last one of them. But the majority of this anti-science crowd predictably identifies with the party that has made opposing established science a part of its very fiber.
Right, and "someone who had been out of the country... [and] visited an area where measles still circulates" only happens how many times? Several million, perhaps? And it could just well be someone who believes they're safe because they (think they) were unvaccinated but in fact are still at risk -- which it turns out could be the majority of people. Yet measels outbreaks and cases have (supposedly) been very low -- until 2014...
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Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
What has happened with the US measles outbreak is that someone who had been out of the country, most likely someone not vaccinated against measles, probably a tourist, visited an area where measles still circulates. That person picked up the virus and visited Disneyland while he was infectious. Measles is infectious for up to four days before symptoms begin, and that person may have gone back home before he got sick. That person has not been identified. The people who were exposed at Disneyland and who have gotten the disease were mostly unvaccinated (if you are susceptible to the virus you have a 90% chance of catching it). So the initial case was imported into the US and from there it has been spread by mostly unvaccinated people. Of those whose vaccination status is known, a few who have been vaccinated have gotten the disease; however, for them the disease is generally milder. Some victims have needed hospitalization.
Measels cases in the USA have ranged between c. 40 and 200 since 2001, the exception being last year (2014) when it suddenly spiked. If what you're claiming is true, then there really should have been a steady and significant growth during this period.
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This is a totally natural event. It is related to more people choosing not to vaccinate following Wakefield's now discredited "study" linking measles and autism.
The outbreak is from kids who haven't been vaccinated by irresponsible parents. I chalk it up to hysterical housewives spending too much time on Facebook.
There is rising suspicion of government programs among immigrants from countries where the CIA has known to be or rumored to have been active in mass vaccination programs. The most obvious example is Pakistan where the CIA set up public vaccination programs to spy on people. In Nigeria and other African countries, there are reports that the aid workers are security contractors sent to assist local insurgencies. There is also Bill Gates and his foundation talking about the use of vaccination programs to sterilize women in the third world.
The outbreak is from kids who haven't been vaccinated by irresponsible parents. I chalk it up to hysterical housewives spending too much time on Facebook.
I have to watch myself because I have some prejudices. However, I am not particularly fond of many young mothers in their twenties. There are always exceptions and I don't label all of them as "hysterical". However, I've just seen too many over the years who could have benefited from the use of Xanax of some other anti-anxiety pill.
These are the types though that often don't critically analyze information. They often have a limited view of the world that boils down to their husband and family and they often have a sort of "tunnel vision" that blocks out anything else. They are the ones who respond to Jenny McCarthy ranting about the "dangers of vaccines". When they see an article that has a headline that says "Link Between MMR Shot and Autism Ruled Out by Study" they read this headline to mean that there could be a link between the two and its simply too dangerous to get their kids vaccinated.
My wife encountered dozens of women like this working as a nurse in the health department. They are extraordinarily hard to persuade otherwise because--as a rule--they don't respond to scientific studies, facts, and logic. What they respond to is fear and rumor.
My generation was born before many of these vaccines were available. I had chicken pox, measles, and mumps. I had a friend go to the hospital because of mumps. Because of the success of vaccination many of these young mothers are simply clueless. These diseases are only theoretical possibilities to them.
As you point out, social media and the internet have played a role in "dumbing-down" people as well. In today's electronic world conspiracy and junk science articles are on the same footing as hard scientific studies in reputable medical journals.
The only positive thing about the measles epidemic that is occurring is that some people are finally seeing these diseases are not just something you read about in a book. The viruses that cause them are part of the world around us--only kept at bay by a thin veneer of civilization that has come about in the last fifty years through vaccination and other public health measures.
What can I say, totally agree with the above poster.
There is a movement today that science is bad, or not real. It's just a theory, not something that can be proven by fact. The Internet and social media definitely have something to do with it.
Another thing is we are so far removed from history we forget and end up repeating the mistakes of the past. Before we had widespread vaccination programs, we saw leg braces, iron lungs, and sanitoriums. Further back in history, diptheria could wipe out an entire town. Maybe those things need to start coming back to get some to vaccinate their kids. Late effects of diseases can be devastating.
They were talking about this on NPR this morning. The medical community needs to start an education campaign. If you leave it optional, "What do you think about your child's vaccination Mrs Jones?" "Well I heard about autism, and poisoning, all mercury, and ect, ect, ect."
The conversation needs to be more on education. "This is why we vaccinate, this is what childhood diseases can do, this is why it's a matter of public health."
Got to do more education on diseases and vaccination.
It's my opinion that the measles outbreak was a good thing even though some got real sick.I didn't know until this week that people who were born in 1957 or before are at risk because they were only given one vaccine (norm at the time) instead of the (now) required two.
I also didn't know that it is possible that older peoples once thought solid immunity could be an issue now and that said immunity can be checked with a simple blood test with a booster given if needed.
I'm going to get mine checked next time I get my blood run, better safe then sorry.
I recently researched this because I have a grandson born with SCID and immunizations for the whole family are critical.
What I learned is that if you were born in 1957 or after you need to get a booster. If you were born before 1957, you are considered to be immune because
"People born before 1957 lived through several years of epidemic measles before the first measles vaccine was licensed. As a result, these people are very likely to have had the measles disease. Surveys suggest that 95% to 98% of those born before 1957 are immune to measles. Note: The "1957 rule" applies only to measles and mumps—it does NOT apply to rubella."
It's my opinion that the measles outbreak was a good thing even though some got real sick. I didn't know until this week that people who were born in 1957 or before are at risk because they were only given one vaccine (norm at the time) instead of the (now) required two.
I also didn't know that it is possible that older peoples once thought solid immunity could be an issue now and that said immunity can be checked with a simple blood test with a booster given if needed.
I'm going to get mine checked next time I get my blood run, better safe then sorry.
I'm glad you brought that up because I was reading an article yesterday about a previously vaccinated adult who came down with the measles but I didn't know that people who were vaccinated before 1957 were more at risk though.. damnit.
I'll get the blood test too.
eta,, I just read the post above mine.. hmm.. I'll check into it, but I'll probably get the blood test done anyway just to be on the safe side.
The short answer: Out of control liberals who reject anything to do with health science and substitute their own.
I full expect polio to mount a comeback
Funny thing I just read it was the republicans who are behind it.
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