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from the send-them-over-the-edge-of-our-flat-earth dept.
Anti-Vax Parents Lose in NY Court, Face Steep Fines for Not Vaccinating:
A Brooklyn judge on Thursday rejected the petition from five anonymous anti-vaccine mothers who attempted to block the city's recent vaccination mandate amid the largest measles outbreak the city has seen in several decades.
And the city wasted no time enforcing its upheld order. As the judge made his decision Thursday, city health officials doled out the first penalties to violators, according to the New York Times. Officials sent summonses to the parents of three children for failing to vaccinate the children even after city officials determined that they had been exposed to the dangerous viral illness.
Measles is so contagious that up to 90 percent of unvaccinated or otherwise susceptible individuals who are exposed will become ill, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles' extreme contagiousness is due in part to the fact that once it is launched into the air from a cough or sneeze it can remain airborne and infectious for up to two hours. Any vulnerable passersby who breathe in the virus or touch contaminated surfaces can pick it up.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/17/health/measles-israel-flight-attendant/index.html:
An Israeli flight attendant has slipped into a coma after contracting measles, according to health officials.
The 43-year-old woman has encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, a well-known and potentially deadly complication of the virus. She was otherwise healthy before getting measles.
"She's been in a deep coma for 10 days, and we're now just hoping for the best," said Dr. Itamar Grotto, associate director general of Israel's Ministry of Health.
The flight attendant, who works for El Al, the Israeli national airline, might have contracted the virus in New York, in Israel or on a flight between the two, Grotto said. Health authorities do not believed that she spread the virus to anyone on the flights.
She's unable to breathe on her own and on a respirator in the intensive care unit at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, near Tel Aviv.
She developed a fever on March 31 and entered the hospital that same day.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/18/health/measles-israeli-baby-us-caution/index.html:
Fainy Sukenik believes in vaccines, and her four children are up to date on all their shots. That's why she's furious that her baby got measles. Too young to be vaccinated, 8-month-old Shira Goldschmidt developed complications from the virus and had to be hospitalized.
Infectious disease experts say the cause is clear: anti-vaxers.
Both in the United States and in Israel, where Sukenik lives, the ongoing measles outbreaks started with pockets of people who refuse to vaccinate their children. Those anti-vaxers can then spread measles to babies outside their communities because even if parents want to vaccinate their children, babies don't get their first measles shot until their first birthday.
[...] The results can be devastating: For every 1,000 children who contract measles, one or two will die, according to the CDC.
[...] It rarely happens, but about seven to 10 years after someone has measles, they can develop subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a disabling and deadly brain disorder, according to the CDC.
WHO - New measles surveillance data for 2019:
Measles cases have continued to climb into 2019. Preliminary global data shows that reported cases rose by 300 percent in the first three months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. This follows consecutive increases over the past two years.
[...] Measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases, with the potential to be extremely severe. In 2017, the most recent year for which estimates are available, it caused close to 110 000 deaths. Even in high-income countries, complications result in hospitalization in up to a quarter of cases, and can lead to lifelong disability, from brain damage and blindness to hearing loss.
The disease is almost entirely preventable through two doses of a safe and effective vaccine. For several years, however, global coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine has stalled at 85 percent. This is still short of the 95 percent needed to prevent outbreaks, and leaves many people, in many communities, at risk. Second dose coverage, while increasing, stands at 67 percent.
From the Measles entry on Wikipedia:
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the measles virus.[3][9] Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days.[6][7] Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than 40 °C (104 °F), cough, runny nose, and inflamed eyes.[3][4] Small white spots known as Koplik's spots may form inside the mouth two or three days after the start of symptoms.[4] A red, flat rash which usually starts on the face and then spreads to the rest of the body typically begins three to five days after the start of symptoms.[4] Common complications include diarrhea (in 8% of cases), middle ear infection (7%), and pneumonia (6%).
[...] Measles is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of infected people.[6] It may also be spread through contact with saliva or nasal secretions.[6] Nine out of ten people who are not immune and share living space with an infected person will be infected.[5] People are infectious to others from four days before to four days after the start of the rash.[5] Most people do not get the disease more than once.[6] Testing for the measles virus in suspected cases is important for public health efforts.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Saturday April 20 2019, @10:14PM (6 children)
Unlike WWII bombers, nearly all children survived all childhood sorties in the 1960s and early 1970s, with a minimal compliment of vaccinations available, notably lacking: MMR, varicella, etc. We did get a bit roughed up, had a couple of weeks down time in recovery, but... if that's what's really at stake here: have we created a generation of (born in the 1990s and later) adults who are even more susceptible to serious reactions to these formerly childhood diseases, in exchange for keeping the kids in school an extra 15-20 days per 14 years, on average?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Sunday April 21 2019, @12:04AM (3 children)
Both the disease and the vaccination result in an immune system trained to ward off a particular pathogen. The disease does more damage to you along the way.
I'm not sure how that maps to your statement, unless-
You are referring to people who are not vaccinated being hit harder later because they are not exposed early (because the disease is not running rampant as it was in the past)? I can see that, however hundreds of millions getting sick (which yes, the vast majority recover from) vs. hundreds or a few thousand as you describe. The greater number of deaths would still I think lie heavily in the no-vaccinations/everyone gets sick column.
Incidentally my first memory of vaccinations was standing in a long line in gradeschool to get vaccinated with that pneumatic hypo-spray shoot it through your skin thing. Don't even remember which vaccination that was, but it was the time frame you reference.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Sunday April 21 2019, @02:36AM (2 children)
I'd map it based on the oft-repeated: immunity gained from the disease is stronger than immunity gained from the vaccine (varies a lot I'm sure: YMMV). As for the disease doing more damage along the way: polio yes, tetanus definitely, measles sometimes, varicella - that vaccine doesn't work worth a damn in later life, the other ~18 diseases on the CDC vaccination schedule: mostly not and/or insufficient data on actual vaccine damage to really draw conclusions.
There was some crap they shot in the upper arm that left a circular scar - most people lived with the scar but I compulsively scratched mine until it wasn't recognizable as the vaccination scar anymore.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday April 21 2019, @06:40AM (1 child)
The circular scar one was smallpox. It is the poster child for a successful vaccination campaign. Disease eliminated, and they don't do it anymore.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Sunday April 21 2019, @12:59PM
Yes, smallpox was a clear victory. Unfortunately it seems that success with smallpox, tetanus, and polio has brought a halo effect to all vaccines which may not always be deserved.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Monday April 22 2019, @01:44PM (1 child)
From CDC:
In the decade before 1963 when a vaccine became available, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years of age. It is estimated 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected each year. Also each year, among reported cases, an estimated 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and 1,000 suffered encephalitis (swelling of the brain) from measles.
That is just measles. You are wrong. Flat out wrong. Just accept it, and move on.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday April 22 2019, @02:27PM
No, I accept your numbers of 400 to 500 deaths and 48,000 hospitalizations per year.
That is just automobile deaths, we can go on with second hand smoke, heart disease, and any number of other "preventable" death modalities, if people would just change their behavior.
So, what you're saying is that: in 1963, with no vaccination option, there were 500 deaths per year from the measles. What I'm saying is: in 2010, with modernized roadways, airbags and crash protection requirements, there were still ~33,000 deaths from automobile crashes in the USA. 40x the risk of death, and yet, we still allow antique cars to drive on the same roads as us, still choose to drive to work when telecommuting is a viable option for so many, still go on "driving vacations," and even pleasure cruises for no particular reason in our private deathtrap automobiles.
Today there is a vaccination option, and because a small proportion of the population has recently opted out, for whatever reasons, there's a highly vocal and self-righteous contingent screaming for legislation to force injections into the bodies of others and their children.
You want to reduce your risk of death 30% more than forcing measles vaccination on 100% of the population vs. no measles vaccination at all? Reduce your driving by just 3%: stay home, off the roads, one day per month. Car crashes don't just maim and kill inattentive drivers, they also maim and kill innocent bystanders. Don't like me telling you when and how much to drive your car, for your own good and mine? I don't like you telling me what to inject in my and my children's bodies.
We all die. If this is truly the "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave" - I'd like to retain my freedom to choose where, when and how I put myself and my children at risk, and the very thought of police showing up at the door forcing children to get injections against their parents' wishes is as un-American as any Red Menace propaganda that ever was created.
🌻🌻 [google.com]