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Health officials on Thursday confirmed the country's first measles death since 2003, and they believe the victim was most likely exposed to the virus in a health facility in Washington state during an outbreak there. The woman died in the spring; a later autopsy confirmed that she had an undetected measles infection, the Washington State Department of Health said in a statement. The official cause of death was announced as "pneumonia due to measles."
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 178 people from 24 states and the District were reported to have measles from Jan. 1 through June 26 of this year. Two-thirds of the cases, the CDC noted, were "part of a large multi-state outbreak linked to an amusement park in California."
Measles were effectively eliminated in the United States in 2000, according to the CDC. Health officials have said that the disease made a comeback recently, in part because of a growing number of adults deciding to delay or abstain from vaccinating their children. Last year brought the highest number of recorded measles cases since 2000, according to the CDC. Earlier this year, President Obama acknowledged the concerns some have about effects of vaccines but said: "The science is pretty indisputable." "You should get your kids vaccinated — it's good for them," Obama said. "We should be able to get back to the point where measles effectively is not existing in this country."
takyon: Celebrity critics recently denounced California's new mandatory vaccine law.
Original Submission
(Score: -1, Disagree) by Hairyfeet on Sunday July 05 2015, @12:17AM
All you want but there is ZERO medical reason to have mercury in the vaccines, NONE. It was done to increase profits and the amount of kids having bad reactions to the shots have skyrocketed.
Lets face it folks, this is a monopoly situation so there really is no point in continuing to cut corners to increase profits. Get rid of the shitty thimerosal, go back to the original formula and I bet all those kids having reactions? Would just dry up.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 5, Informative) by gman003 on Sunday July 05 2015, @12:44AM
Thiomersal (ethyl(2-mercaptobenzoato-(2-)-O,S) mercurate(1-) sodium) is a preservative. Vaccines are organic material, and so they are suspect to contamination with bacteria or fungi, just like food. Thiomersal is one of the few preservatives that does not decrease the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Do you have any evidence for your latter claim? I found no mention of rates changing over time in the WHO report [who.int].
As for the first claim, how exactly does it increase profits? You claim it increased rates of adverse reactions - how, exactly, does that increase profits?
Four different groups manufacture and sell MMR vaccines - Merck, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithCline and the Serum Institute of India. It is not in any way a monopoly.
You'll be glad to know, then, that thiomersal has been eliminated from all childhood vaccines in the EU, and mostly eliminated from childhood vaccines in the US (some influenza vaccines have kept it, and it may be present in trace amounts from manufacturing in others ("trace amounts" meaning "you could get 40 vaccines per day forever without exceeding WHO limits for safe mercury exposure")). However, rather than go back to the previous formulations, they have instead used refrigerated vaccines, because pre-thiomersal vaccines were much riskier, sometimes killing people.
It has not been removed from all adult vaccines, or vaccines no longer in common usage. It's also used in several antivenins, so try to avoid being bitten by any poisonous snakes if you're afraid of preservatives.
It has not been removed from developing-world vaccines because the only alternative, refrigeration, is not feasible. This actually argues against your position - if thiomersal was added to vaccines solely to boost profits, they would not use it in poor countries where there is little profit to be made. The fact that they continue to do so indicates they have some other reason.
(Score: 2) by cmn32480 on Sunday July 05 2015, @03:53PM
Regardless of the content of the anti-venom, would it be OK if I avoided getting bitten by poisonous snakes anyway? I heard once that it was bad for my health.
"It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
(Score: 2) by arslan on Monday July 06 2015, @04:38AM
You sure can, don't come to Australia though as the poisonous snakes here (and other critters) won't avoid biting you just because you do them. I can't even remember the number of times I've found a red-back (black widow equivalent) nesting in my shoes...
(Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Sunday July 05 2015, @01:03AM
Hairy: Tinfoil on too tight.
Go take your meds, and let your hair breath.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @08:32AM
Hairy: Tinfoil on too tight.
Go take your meds*, and let your hair breath.
* Tinfoilera side effects may include: Hairy speech, ponderous itching, scalp tasting, and "hair breath".
Do not use Tinfoilera while operating Non-Lethal Energy Weapons, Chem-Trailing, or Phone Bugging.
Ask Obama if your Doctor should talk to you about Climate Change or other propaganda you may be prescribed before using Tinfoilera.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @01:12AM
I want to poke & prod your raw anus.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Reziac on Sunday July 05 2015, @02:32AM
Vaccine is at best marginally profitable for the manufacturers and wholesale distributors. There's so little money in flu vaccines that finding willing manufacturers can be tough. I know of one very effective animal vaccine that has fallen out of production entirely -- again, no money in it.
Markup at retail (ie. doctor's office) is a different matter, and varies considerably judging just by what I see when flu vaccine time comes around (Costco and Walmart $12, CVS $18, walk-in clinic $25, etc.) I buy bulk livestock vaccine at wholesale, and I pay under $4 per dose for what the veterinarian charges $25 to $70 retail for (tho most of that markup goes to cover operating overhead).
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 05 2015, @05:54AM
"marginally profitable" means little when you have an entire population held captive, mandated by the legislative branch, and enforced by the executive and judicial branches to make the purchases.
I wish that I could simply mandate that every man, woman, and child in the US cough up a dollar to deposit in my account. Or half a buck. Hell, a single thin dime would make me a rich man. If I could only get one red cent from every man, woman, and child, I could retire with no worries.
"Marginally profitable" my arse.
ICE is having a Pretti Good season.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by dusty monkey on Sunday July 05 2015, @11:22AM
I was going to basically say the same thing, but with the addition that a small lab could start producing that vaccine the grandparent says isn't in production anymore, and assuming there is some demand for it then it could easily be set up as a profitable addition to the business.
- when you vote for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil - stop supporting evil -
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Monday July 06 2015, @12:22AM
Because the FDA has made things difficult. Go look up the death of Combiotic. 70 year safe track record, but hadn't been tested the way currently required, and not enough profit in it to cover the ~$1million it would have cost. So it is no more.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @02:08PM
what i don't understand about the war on anti-vaxers is that if those arguing for vaccination have their kids vaccinated, why worry about kids that aren't? is exposure to unvaccinated kids supposed to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines or something?
(Score: 3, Informative) by kadal on Sunday July 05 2015, @03:03PM
The vaccines aren't 100% effective. You can try to vaccinate your kids but there's a small change that the vaccine doesn't work for them. In that case, those kids are dependent on herd immunity to prevent them from getting exposed.
There are also kids with other diseases that have to take medication that suppresses their immune system.
(Score: 3, Informative) by cmn32480 on Sunday July 05 2015, @04:15PM
Part of it is that the debilitating side effects of some of these childhood diseases can impair you for life. It isn't about exposing the vaccinated to the unvaccinated, it is about protecting those that CAN'T be vaccinated. Some people have reactions to the vaccines, or are on medication for other medical problems that prevent them from being vaccinated. It isn't so much that anti-vaxers are risking the health and safety of their own children (and they are), but putting at risk those that want to be vaccinated but cannot, and not giving those unable to be vaccinated a choice in the matter.
From the CDC [cdc.gov]:
There is a much higher cost to treating people with any of those side effects than the cost of the vaccine. And quite frankly, I would rather my tax dollars didn't pay to fix your mistakes when there is a preventative available at nearly zero cost.
I don't like that the government is starting to mandate some things (Healthcare is one of them), but in this instance, this actually IS somebody thinking of the children and trying to do what is best for them and for the rest of us.
Herd immunity is only a workable plan when most of the herd is immune. Once the herd stops being immune (as can be seen in some of the pockets of anti-vaxers that all live together), it can become a public health problem.
"It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
(Score: 1) by steelfood on Tuesday July 07 2015, @09:50PM
I wish that I could simply mandate that every man, woman, and child in the US cough up a dollar to deposit in my account.
If you were "the government," that'd be called a tax.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Whoever on Sunday July 05 2015, @09:27PM
I'm not going to call you a denier. Just an idiot.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday July 07 2015, @02:21AM
All you want but there is ZERO medical reason to have mercury in the vaccines, NONE.
One probably gets more exposure to mercury sitting around a campfire for an evening than from all the vaccines one has received in their life.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Tuesday July 07 2015, @08:21PM
That is fine and dandy...unless your child is deathly allergic and has a bad reaction. Remember there are kids out there where simply having a tenth of a speck of peanut will send them straight to the ER, and we are talking about something that is government mandated backed up with the gun of the state....sorry but under THOSE circumstances? If there is a way to do it safer then it should be done safer without even questioning.
What is frankly sad is so many here that believe if the state says its so? it is so, never question the state...which has been caught lying to us so damned many times the last 40 years it isn't even funny.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday July 08 2015, @01:45AM
Anyone who is allergic can get a waiver from any mandated vaccines. That is part of why it is important for for enough people to get vaccines to keep the herd immunity up, so that those who cannot get vaccines have a degree of protection.