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Texas lawmaker says he's not worried about measles outbreak because of ‘antibiotics'
Texas state representative Bill Zedler says a resurgence of measles across the U.S. isn't worrying him.
Zedler, R-Arlington, is promoting legislation that would allow Texans to opt out of childhood vaccinations.
“They want to say people are dying of measles. Yeah, in Third World countries they’re dying of measles,” Zedler said, the Texas Observer reports. “Today, with antibiotics and that kind of stuff, they’re not dying in America.”
There is no treatment for measles, a highly contagious virus that can be fatal. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections and can't kill viruses.
It could be funny if it weren't so tragic.
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Texas Lawmaker not Worried about Measles because of ‘Antibiotics'
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Anyone can make an omelet with eggs. The trick is to make one with none.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday March 01 2019, @01:40AM (4 children)
Good Christ, no, it's not some massive conspiracy of pharma companies to vaccinate everyone forever.
I'm willing to believe a lot of bad stuff about the pharma industry, but if you took even a few moments among your apparent deep dives into random medical journal articles from decades ago, you'd know very well why measles hasn't been eradicated worldwide yet. (Officially, it has been eradicated in the U.S. for quite a few years, despite anti-vaxxers trying their damndest to get it to spread again.)
Anyhow, basically the difference between measles and smallpox or polio (the other disease aimed for in vaccinations) is the measles is a lot more contagious. It requires something more like 95% vaccination to get herd immunity and stop spreading, compared to 80-85% for smallpox and polio. And the characteristics of the vaccine make it harder to inoculate throughout random parts of the third world compared to polio (which takes a few drops orally, compared to measles which requires a reconsituted injection that goes bad quickly).
No, it's not a massive conspiracy to keep measles alive. Rather, there are massive ongoing campaigns to try to eradicate measles globally, since it still causes over 100,000 deaths per year globally, mostly in young children in developing nations.
I assume you're the AC bitching up and down this thread and posting links to ancient medical journal articles. Try reading some modern ones. You might learn something -- that is if you open your mind and stop assuming conspiracy theories and spouting anti-vaxxers rhetoric about the supposed (unproven) high incidence of serious vaccine complications. Despite the BS here, measles is a serious disease that causes serious side effects and deaths. There's no credible science that the vaccines against it have side effects that exceed that magnitude.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 01 2019, @02:12AM (3 children)
Well, it isn't just measles. It is every single thing on this list: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vaccines-age.html [cdc.gov]
You are saying all of those vaccines/viruses have special properties that make them more difficult than polio and smallpox to eradicate?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 01 2019, @10:05AM
Apparently, not diphtheria, which is on your list - that had only 4500 reported cases in 2015. And given how hard it is to eradicate polio, I'm not surprised that we're taking a while with the other diseases that can be eradicated.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday March 01 2019, @01:03PM (1 child)
Do you have any freakin' clue how hard global eradication is? Read up on the history of smallpox eradication -- how much effort it took, how many rights were violated and people forcibly vaccinated against their will, how workers had to travel on foot to remote places and convince (sometimes coerce) people to allow them to be vaccinated while field methods had to be invented to make sure vaccination could still be effective in varying remote conditions...
It's astounding that it managed to succeed. For a disease as easily transmitted as measles, it's amazing we've gotten as far as we have. Read up on some history rather than just assuming someone waves a.magic wand and all of humanity around the global is vaccinated.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 01 2019, @02:54PM
Yes, if you are going to do something do it right. The original justification for eradication of measles was indeed because it would be a great achievement:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1522578/ [nih.gov]
That is a reason to do something, not a reason to stop trying. The 1960s were a better time I guess though.