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Anti-vaccine nonsense spurred NY's largest outbreak in decades
Health officials in New York are cautiously optimistic that they have a large measles outbreak under control after tackling the noxious anti-vaccine myths and unfounded fears that fueled the disease's spread.
Since last fall, New York has tallied 177 confirmed cases of measles, the largest outbreak the state has seen in decades. It began with infected travelers, arriving from parts of Israel and Europe where the highly contagious disease was spreading. In New York, that spread has largely been confined to ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. As measles rippled through those insular religious communities, health officials ran into members who were wary of outsiders as well as those who harbor harmful myths and fears about vaccines. This included the completely false-yet-pernicious belief that the measles vaccine causes autism.
To quash the outbreak, health officials met with rabbis and pediatricians in the community, who in turned urged community members to be vigilant and, above all, get vaccinated, according to The New York Times. "Good people, great parents were terrified," Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, founder of Darchei Noam yeshiva in Monsey in Rockland County, told the Times. Despite the fears, he insisted parents vaccinate their children. "They felt that I was asking to give their children something that would harm them."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Saturday January 19 2019, @02:09AM (2 children)
You've forgotten, or omitted, a quite salient fact. That is Thimerosol wasn't intrinsically required since it was a preservative. They replaced it in 2001 because of the PR. In the document you referenced:
See? We never had to use it in the first place. So why even risk the consumption of a toxic compound when there are safer alternatives? Again, you detractors conflate distrust in the system with a lack of sophistication. Yes, I "chemistry bro". Yes, and I would never feed a child a tuna sandwich. The FDA relented to lobbyists in Big Fishing that complained they could never sell fish again unless the levels were increased to TWICE that the EPA guidelines suggest. Why? Global levels of mercury have doubled in the ocean within the last 50 years or so, IIRC. You would trust a system in which the FDA and EPA don't even agree on what levels are safe? You need to agree to a safe level before you can even begin testing for it. Regardless of what any of you say, the global levels of mercury have made eating some seafood just plain dangerous and unhealthy.
The price of knowing my child is safe, is what it costs to take them to a different country that has different manufacturers, and operates under different regulations, while possessing strong consumer protections. All of them ostensibly without the extreme bullshit of Too-Big-To-Fail and Too-Big-To-Face-Consequences.
The USA is not one of those countries, and a lot of Americans apparently can't handle the ugly truth; We're far below the top 10 in just about every metric that matters, and are infested with the toxins that avarice and sociopathic behavior creates within our society.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1, Troll) by ikanreed on Saturday January 19 2019, @02:44AM (1 child)
because "toxic compound" is a meaningless descriptor without dosage. Especially with an antibotic compound as inert as thimerosol.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 20 2019, @05:35PM
You say, "oh it's a great and very safe antibotic." Great for killing Germs. But, you get sick. You go to the Doctor. And the Doctor never says, "oh, take this Thimerosal and you'll get better." It's an Ingredient. They don't make it the 100%. So interesting!