The Chicago Sun Times reports that in a disturbing California Bay Area trend, parents wary of vaccinating their kids are considering having their unvaccinated children attend measles parties with those who are infected. The idea is the same as a chicken pox party. Parents bring their children to these gatherings to get them sick once so they won’t have to deal with the virus again. Except, most cases of chicken pox aren’t deadly. Marin County Public Health Officer Matt Willis says that although his office has received no reports of such parties, officials have fielded several calls from parents asking about the benefits of "natural immunity," or the idea that immunity gained from contracting a disease is superior to immunity conferred through vaccination. Measles is a serious illness that can cause brain swelling, long-term neurological effects and even death, Willis says. Plus, he added, there is no evidence that immunity gained through becoming sick with measles is any better than vaccine-imparted immunity. "Any parents who are considering this, they should have a look at a child who’s really sick with measles, and I think they’d change their minds."
Willis and other health officials suspect the concept of a measles party may have grown out of "pox parties," which were popular in the 1980s, before the chickenpox vaccine was widely available. Some parents, reports said, even arranged to pay strangers for licked lollipops, saliva or other items from infected children. Willis says he still hears reports of “pox parties” occurring in Marin today, even though a chickenpox vaccine has been available for more than two decades. "It was not a good idea then, and it's still not a good idea," says Wilbert Mason.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday February 11 2015, @01:08PM
We went in less than a decade from NINE shots to SEVENTY EIGHT...I'm sorry but no matter what your feelings on the subject are I'm sure we can all agree that requiring THAT many shots between birth and 18 is just bullshit. The problem is the entire thing has gotten out of hand thanks to regulatory capture [wikipedia.org] with no less than SEVEN out of the nine on the approval board being on the payroll of the companies pushing these drugs.
So instead of going "poo poo, tinfoil hatters poo poo" why not ask some sensible questions like 1.- What drugs are being pushed? 2.- How long term were the studies on these drugs? 3.- What are the odds of a child at a particular age catching the disease we are immunizing for? 4.- Why should we trust a panel where the majority are paid for by the industry they are supposed to be overseeing? 5.- Where are the studies on using this many shots grouped together so quickly, what are their findings?
Where there is smoke there is usually fire folks and if you spend more than 5 minutes learning about the backstory of this industry you'll quickly see its rife with corruption, backdoor deals, fast tracked drugs with little oversight, and companies with a history of pushing out drugs without doing studies on side effects and instead merely figuring payouts for harm into their prices. What we NEED to do is instead of saying "its all or nothing" set down and decide WHAT shots our kids should be getting, WHICH ones should be optional, and WHO should be in charge of actually doing the studies because the current system? makes the science done by big tobacco on smoking look legit.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 3, Informative) by tibman on Wednesday February 11 2015, @03:39PM
78 is beyond exaggeration. Even in the US Army you get 13. Deployments could get you up more depending on where you go. But they are for exotic things that normal Americans would never need (Rabies, Smallpox, Anthrax). So please take your basic civilian shots. They are literally trying to save your life.
13 required: Diphtheria, HepA, HepB, Influenza (every year), Measles, Meningococcal, Mumps, Pertussis, Polio, Rubella, Tetanus, Varicella, Yellow fever.
bonus shots: Anthrax, Japanese encephalitis, smallpox, typhoid, haemophilus type b, rabies.
Anthrax is like peanut butter injections. Smallpox is a week with an open festering wound on your shoulder. Fun!
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by sudo rm -rf on Wednesday February 11 2015, @03:55PM
13 required
Required as in "required by law"? In Germany there is sadly no such thing as required vaccinations (arguing with physical integrity). After having spent the winter holidays with the unpleasant and unneccessary experience of Rubella [wikipedia.org], I'm all for forcing people to get vaccinated.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday February 11 2015, @05:02PM
Required to join the US Army. If you can't prove you have already had the shots then they'll give them all to you again : )
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(Score: 2) by sudo rm -rf on Wednesday February 11 2015, @03:41PM
... WHO should be in charge ...
I see what you did there.
(Score: 2) by karmawhore on Wednesday February 11 2015, @04:45PM
I'm not sure where those numbers are coming from. Maybe you're talking about vaccinations (that is, diseases vaccinated against) a decade ago, then actual number of shots given today? And 78 still sounds high, but I don't have a schedule sitting in front of me, so this is all off the top of my head. A decade ago there was HepB (3 shots), DTP (2 plus at least 1 booster I think?), HepA, MMR -- and now we're up to 8 and haven't even scratched the surface.
If you want to invoke the specter of Big Pharma, please remember "they" also funded Wakefield and started this whole stupid debate. So even if you buy into the conspiracy theory, you have to admit it's not that cut and dried.
=kw= lurkin' to please
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 11 2015, @07:28PM
We went in less than a decade from NINE shots to SEVENTY EIGHT...
Citation desperately needed.
Mississippi's requirements, which were in the news laterly, are listed here. [state.ms.us]
I count 20 required shots for childcare (16 to simply attend school). Mostly because they come in sets of 3 or 4.
(Score: 2) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday February 11 2015, @07:33PM
Yes, I will agree with Dr Hairyfeet that most of our vaccines are bullshit. Even though he does not say which ones are the problem, or cite studies as to why.
Let me guess, you are a parent and what a parent "feels" is more pertinent then science.
Go fuck yourself, I only wish you were the one getting measles instead of your children.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 11 2015, @10:29PM
Where are you getting these numbers from? My google-fu is not sufficient to verify this claim.
Well, I might agree with you, if you would give me a credible citation for this claim. But first I need to see that citation. Also, note that the important modifier here is credible.
Actually, I much prefer my question: where are you getting these numbers from of nine shots versus seventy eight? Before we can evaluate your other claims, we really need to know how many vaccinations are actually required. Let's first tackle that question, 'kay?