Submitted via IRC for Bytram
'It will take off like a wildfire': The unique dangers of the Washington state measles outbreak
[...] "You know what keeps me up at night?" said Clark County Public Health Director Alan Melnick. "Measles is exquisitely contagious. If you have an under-vaccinated population, and you introduce a measles case into that population, it will take off like a wildfire."
[...] Anti-vaccination activists, for their part, contend that state officials are twisting facts to stoke public fear.
"It shouldn't be called an outbreak," Seattle-area mother Bernadette Pajer, a co-founder of the state's main anti-vaccine group, Informed Choice Washington, said of the measles cases, arguing that the illness has spread only within a small, self-contained group. "I would refer to it as an in-break, within a community."
[...] Clements eventually changed her mind, deciding to give her kids the shots after a doctor at a vaccine workshop answered her questions for more than two hours, at one point drawing diagrams on a whiteboard to explain cell interaction. He was thoughtful, factual and also "still very warm," she said.
[...] In Washington, state lawmakers supporting tougher vaccine requirements are mounting their second effort in the past three years to make it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinations.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 09 2019, @05:53AM (4 children)
I started a job in healthcare in December and found out that the first M and the R of my childhood MMR routines had worn off somehow; I was positive for mumps antibodies but not for measles or rubella. This shouldn't surprise anyone; most people are not likely to encounter any of these once childhood is over thanks to widespread vaccination, and I'm in my early 30s now. If my immune system "forgot" a few things this shouldn't be a huge revelation.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 09 2019, @09:26AM (3 children)
I am also not surprised that "global warming" is causing a new ice age, etc.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 09 2019, @12:44PM (2 children)
It is? Some places are getting localized cooling effects but the entire planet is warming. No need for scare quotes; the planet's net energy budget *is* going up, it's just not evenly distributed because Earth isn't a barren, featureless, uniform ball of rock with no atmosphere.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 09 2019, @04:15PM (1 child)
The earth isn't a "ball" at all. It is a flat planar disc that is slightly concave towards the sun. Just concave enough so that solar insolation is exactly the same at every point. There is a reason that "flat-earthers" is a grass roots phenomenon spreading around the globe.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 09 2019, @11:44PM
Now THAT is how you troll! I love the last sentence especially :) Modded up because I want people to see this.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...