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from the '0'-days-since-our-last-measles dept.
UK steps up fight after losing 'measles-free' status
The United Kingdom says it will take steps to halt the spread of misinformation about vaccines as a result of losing its "measles-free" status after the highly infectious disease was declared eliminated in the country three years ago.
Measles, which is almost entirely preventable with two doses of vaccine, is making a comeback globally. In the first half of the year, there have been almost three times as many cases as the same time last year. Cases globally are at the highest level since 2006, according to the World Health Organization.
"After a period of progress where we were once able to declare Britain measles free, we've now seen hundreds of cases of measles in the UK this year. One case of this horrible disease is too many, and I am determined to step up our efforts to tackle its spread," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.
UK's Johnson slams 'mumbo-jumbo' about vaccines after measles rates rise
"The UK generally has a great record on fighting measles, but for the first time we're suddenly going in the wrong direction," Johnson said on a visit to a hospital in Truro, south-west England. "I'm afraid people have just been listening to that superstitious mumbo-jumbo on the internet, all that anti-vax stuff, and thinking that the MMR vaccine is a bad idea. That's wrong, please get your kids vaccinated."
See also: UK to pressure social media companies to fight anti-vax info
(Score: 4, Interesting) by quietus on Tuesday August 20 2019, @08:11AM (1 child)
Your point is fair, but you might have the wrong disease: not measles, but tuberculosis [nih.gov]. Western Europe has seen an increase in tuberculosis cases since about 2006, and it has to do with immigration.
In contrast to what one would expect though, it's not immigration from Sub Saharan Africa or Asia, but from Europe itself: after the collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe, local governments decided to cut drastically in vaccination programs. The increase in tuberculosis was first noted in Italy before it spread to the rest of Europe -- and traced back to immigrants from Romania, Bulgaria (I think) and former Yugoslavia.
It could be that the increase in measles occurrence has also to do with immigration, but I can't recall anything about that.
That new diseases should be introduced by immigration is not unexpected. It is, as yet, not a large worry -- as subtropical diseases are mainly associated with parasites with very specific lifecycle requirements, and not bacteria and viruses. Diseases passed by ticks, and the reintroduction of mosquitoes and associated diseases though, are a worry: but they are associated with climate change.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday August 20 2019, @03:21PM
TB is also pretty common among our southern neighbors here. They carry several other "exotic" diseases, but TB is common.