Emergency Declared in NY over Measles: Unvaccinated Barred from Public Spaces:
Plagued by a tenacious outbreak of measles that began last October, New York's Rockland County declared a state of emergency Tuesday and issued a directive barring unvaccinated children from all public spaces.
Effective at midnight Wednesday, March 27, anyone aged 18 or younger who has not been vaccinated against the measles is prohibited from public spaces in Rockland for 30 days or until they get vaccinated. Public spaces are defined broadly in the directive as any places:
[W]here more than 10 persons are intended to congregate for purposes such as civic, governmental, social, or religious functions, or for recreation or shopping, or for food or drink consumption, or awaiting transportation, or for daycare or educational purposes, or for medical treatment. A place of public assembly shall also include public transportation vehicles, including but not limited to, publicly or privately owned buses or trains...
The directive follows an order from the county last December that barred unvaccinated children from schools that did not reach a minimum of 95 percent vaccination rate. That order—and the directive issued today—are intended to thwart the long-standing outbreak, which has sickened 153 people, mostly children.
What were they waiting for? A pox on them all?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @08:14PM (6 children)
The Flu vaccine is a guess, nothing more. If it was a meaningful vaccine, you'd get it in childhood and never think about it again, or get a booster shot every 10 years or if you step on a rusty nail, whichever is first.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @08:41PM (1 child)
Flu vaccine is a high cost/effort vaccine and no absolute protection. It still is quite effective though, despite the guessing involved.
You might not consider worth it with good reason, but that does not make it useless or nonsense.
And that is why it is a vaccination for risk groups and people who want it.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:21PM
The flu vaccine works perfectly if administered properly but people refuse to get injections straight to their eyeballs, anuses, or genitalia.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Taibhsear on Wednesday March 27 2019, @09:28PM (3 children)
Biochemist here, the flu vaccine isn't a random "guess," it's a prediction of what strains are likely to be most infectious for the upcoming flu season. They decide on 3 or 4 different strains that appear from trends to be on the rise. It takes a while to make the vaccine so they can't just pump out exactly the one they need whenever it strikes. The virus mutates like crazy too so you can't just get one vaccine in childhood and have it last forever. (They are working on that though!) If you've heard of the H1N1 flu those letters and numbers in its designation are based on the two targets of the virus. They are two parts that you make antibodies for and they mutate frequently. H stands for Hemaggluttinin [wikipedia.org], N stands for Neuraminidase, the numbers stand for the subtype number for each (18 known so far for H and 11 for N). Hemagglutinin binds to the receptors on the cell surface and essentially lets the virus genome into the cell. Neuraminidase lets the new virus particles detach from the cell. If you have antibodies for H1, it's less likely to infect your cells. If you have antibodies for N1, it's less likely for your infected cells to spread the virus. If you encounter, say, H1N3, you could have partial immunity to the virus if you have the antibodies for H1N1. So even if your previous flu shots didn't match up exactly with the currently most populous flu virus, you're still likely to have less serious symptoms or full immunity to future strains. Keep getting the shot every year and you're more likely to cover a broader array of flu virus strains and less likely to get sick as well as less likely to spread it to others. Remember, you're getting 3-4 possible strains in the vaccine and there are at least 198 possible subtype variations for flu strains... People die every year from the flu. Keep getting your shots!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 27 2019, @10:02PM (2 children)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 28 2019, @09:15AM
A guess: "Well, it might rain, or it might not rain. Let's toss a coin. Heads means take an umbrella."
A prediction: "There are dark clouds on the horizon. It might rain. Better take an umbrella."
(Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Friday March 29 2019, @05:31PM
Because unless the mutation fatally debilitates the virus it still functions the same way every year. You just have to make new antibody types for the newly mutated strains each time.