Harpocrates Speaks: Of Maths and Measels

When it comes to loony causes, I have to rank the anti-vax pro-disease nutters as some of the looniest...  And a good tell-tale signal that a cause is loony is the level of deception that they will use to twist and distort facts.  The creationists are a good example of this.  However, Todd W. has written a great article about the way that the pro-disease anti-vaxers seem to try to abuse math to support their lies.

Of Maths and Measles

There are times that I really despair for our country. Specifically, the educational system troubles me from time to time. Take simple mathematics, as an example. By the time one graduates high school and becomes a, presumably, productive adult in our society, regardless of whether said individual goes on to college or jumps right into the workforce, there are certain simple skills that they should have. All the basics should be well in hand: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. They should have a good understanding of decimals, fractions and percentages. Even if someone needs to use a calculator, rather than doing it in their head or scratching a problem out on paper, they should at least have an understanding of how these things work and how to use them.

This woe for the state of education came bubbling up again as I read a comment on a PBS article about the measles outbreak in Indiana. Allie Morris, the author of the article, wrote that at least 13 of the individuals who had contracted measles had a history of MMR vaccine refusal. The commenter, Mmavallet, couldn't believe this number, suggesting that it was statistically impossible for there to be 13 individuals who were all unvaccinated, coupled with a belief that the vaccine couldn't be 95% effective (it's not, BTW, being >99% effective):

I don't buy that all 13 people spread over various counties were all unvaccinated. And the MMR does not have a 95% efficacy rate or else you wouldn't be having these outbreaks in a population where 98% of people vaccinate. It's statistically impossible. If you really research the numbers on these outbreaks, about 50% of those infected are vaccinated! If they really worked, you wouldn't have to continually get revaccinated for the same illness. It's not immunity if it wears off...only natural immunity is permanent.

Let's take a closer look at the issue, shall we?

Basically, the problem involves figuring out a couple of fractions and percentages. We might all remember story problems asking us to figure out that X is what percentage of Y? Or, alternatively, X is Z percent of what? And yet another variation, what is Z percent of Y? This can be boiled down into a simple equation:

X/Y = %/100

To address this individual's comment, we would need to start with a few basic assumptions. First, that the vaccine is 95% effective (we'll do this with a 99% figure, as well). Second, we need to know about how virulent measles is; in other words, what percentage of vulnerable people would be infected if exposed? According to the CDC, that attack rate is about 90%. Finally, we need to know what the approximate uptake rate is for the vaccine. The commenter claims that 98% of individuals in the area vaccinate. We'll use that number for our calculations.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.

Just the Vax: Angelina is Dying

An incredibly sad story that could easily have been prevented!

And another SSPE case: Angelina is dying

I had seen girl previously on a board, but the parents had not gone public until now, after Natalie's death.

Angelina caught measles in 2006 from an adult, when she was 7 months old. She recovered well - this is her before SSPE broke out:



This is her now:



Gina, Angelina's mum says (my translation):

"In February of this year, we noticed pronounced problems with our daughter. She kept falling off her bike, and had speech blockades. When this was getting worse, we went to the clinic. The diagnosis SSPE was a shock for us. Our child became dependent on care within 8 weeks. She cannot walk nor speak and needs to be tube fed. She would have entered school this year. This blow of fate is very hard for us all."

According to Sean Monks, spokesperson of the German Association of Pediatricians, this is the third case of SSPE from measles infection in infants in 2006 - in 2006 a total of 313 infants with measles were reported to the RKI (German CDC equivalent) in Berlin. One of these children died in 2007, another has been suffering from SSPE since 2009, and now Angelina is the third victim from that year.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY.

Measles in Minnesota

The Health Department in Minnesota is busy it seems.  They recently reported:

Three cases of measles in Minnesota have been confirmed during the month of August. The first case was an unvaccinated 12-month-old who acquired infection in Kenya. The second case was an unvaccinated 15-month-old who was exposed to the first case. Both cases were unvaccinated. A third case was confirmed on August 25 in a 43-year-old adult female with unknown vaccination history who was exposed to the first case in a health care setting. The third case was identified through public health follow-up of exposed persons. All three cases are residents of Dakota County. These cases are not related to the recent outbreak in Hennepin County.

So of course, now I am wondering about what is going on in Hennepin County.

Outbreak included 20 cases of measles linked to an individual who acquired infection in Kenya. 

And just in case anyone thinks that Measles is a nuisance disease, here is a list of complications that come along with it (oh how soon we forget!):

Complications with measles are relatively common, ranging from relatively mild and less serious diarrhea, to pneumonia, Otitis media and acute encephalitis (and rarely subacute sclerosing panencephalitis); corneal ulceration leading to corneal scarring. Complications are usually more severe in adults who catch the virus. While the vast majority of patients survive measles, complications occur fairly frequently, and may include bronchitis, and panencephalitis which is potentially fatal.

Mortality in developed countries is ~1/1000. In sub-Saharan Africa, mortality is ~10%. In cases with complications, the rate may rise to 20–30%. On average, ~450 children die every day from measles.

Vaccine Times: Over 1100 children KILLED by measels

Again, a disease that has mothers getting together to intentionally spread it around has KILLED over one THOUSAND children...  And the anti-vax pro-disease folks seem to want to bring this level of ravaging of life back, because they feel that "natural" immunity is better, and that any incidental "suffering" isn't as bad as the (incredibly LOW) risk of vaccines...  That's why I run this site!

In some cultures, there used to be a time when parents were instructed not to count their children, or in some cases not to name them, until they caught, and survived, certain childhood diseases. Parents used to have 8, 9, or 10 children with the hopes that a few would survive to adulthood. Nowadays, modern medicine, and modern living conditions, have made it so that most of us can have just two children and be reasonably assured that they will not die needlessly from a preventable disease. It is undeniable that vaccines played a major role in that.

However, even in today’s world we are constantly reminded just how deadly these diseases can be, none more tragic than the news coming out of The Republic of Congo, where measles has killed at least 1,145 children, and sickened over 115,600 between January and June, 2011. In 2010, 5,407 cases and 82 deaths were reported; in 2009 there were only 899 cases and 26 deaths. I could comment on how tragically horrible this is, but I think the numbers speak for themselves.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE POST!

The Vaccine Times: Doctors Without Borders embark on massive vaccination campaign in Zambia

Nigeria, Zambia, the UK, the US.  The list goes on where measles is having a major resurgence.I just can't help but wonder if this is actually the goal of some of these people.  I know that most of us have forgotten the horrors of watching these diseases ravage our communities, but I would think that would be a good thing.  Why do these anti-vax nutters struggle so hard to bring these diseases back?

A measles epidemic affecting thousands of Zambian children has prompted Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in collaboration with Zambian health authorities, to embark in a massive vaccination campaign aiming to reach 600,000 children between the ages of 6 months to 15 years.

Teams began work early in May in two provinces that have suffered the most cases, 3,043 and 4,670 respectively. During the first two weeks of the campaign, nearly 270,000 were vaccinated. The campaign which was supposed to take about 3 weeks should have concluded, or be in its winding stages, as you read this.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.

Rachel's Story

This is the story of a child that is now deaf as the result of measles. The poor mother of this child thought that herd immunity would protect her child.  Sadly it didn't.  Herd immunity is no substitute for vaccines. For more similar stories, visit shotbyshot.org

Vaccine Times: US Measles Update

Did someone mention that only third world countries have outbreaks of these "unclean" diseases like measles?  Well, the US is rapidly gaining the reputation of a nation with a third rate health-care system, and it would seem that quite a bit of data does not help the cause for the US to tout itself ans first rate.  The main thing to note when looking at this data is the vaccination status of all the people getting measles.

The U.S. is experiencing the highest numbers of measles in 15 years, according to a recent report by the CDC. During 2001-2008 the median number of cases has been 56 per year. So far, through May 20, 2011 that number has more than doubled. Here is a summary of the latest numbers:

• 118 cases reported (105 lab confirmed), the highest number reported for this period since 1996
• 105 (89%) associated with importation from other countries
• 105 (89%) patients were unvaccinated
• 47  (40%) patients were hospitalized and nine had pneumonia, no one had encephalitis and no one died
• All but one hospitalized patients were unvaccinated
• Patients ranged in age from 3 months to 68 years
  • 18 (15%) were aged <12 months
  • 24 (20%) were aged 1–4 years
  • 23 (19%) were aged 5–19 years
  • 53 (45%) were aged ≥20 years

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.

Vaccine Times: Meningitis and measles kill 41 in Nigeria

So yesterday there was a post about measles affecting people in the US.  I made the flip comment about the US not being a third world nation.  Sadly, the way the anti-vax movement has taken hold I don't see it being very much longer before I see headlines like this, except it saying Nigeria or any other country, it will be in your home state.

Meningitis and measles have killed 41 people in Yobe State, Nigeria in the past 18 months. In 2010, 322 cases of Cerebrospinal Meningitis were recorded with 22 fatalities. This year, through May, another 51 cases and 4 more deaths were reported, for a total toll of 26 deaths.

Measles caused 7 deaths out of 464 cases in 2010, whereas in the current year it caused 3,022 cases and 8 deaths so far, for a total of 15 measles deaths.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.

This is not some fear mongering dire warning, but rather a reality that we seem to be blindly stumbling towards because of all the misinformation is impacting parent's ability to make informed decisions.  If you have ever sat and talked to a doctor, and mentioned you read something on the internet, watch their eyes.  If they don't actually roll their eyes, you have a doctor that has nerves of steel, or is no longer surprised that the average citizen thinks that Google gives them an M.D.

Vaccine Times: Measles outbreaks dont' come cheap

Sometimes the canard that "Big Pharma" is making money hand over fist from vaccines.  That assertion is incredibly silly for so many reasons, least of all is that it costs a great deal less to prevent a disease than it does to treat it.  Vaccines prevent disease, and pharmaceutical companies and hospitals would make so much more by just allowing people to catch these diseases, and then treating the myriad of (potentially fatal) symptoms.  So if anything, distributing vaccines acts against their financial interest to make money, although it does act in the ethical and humane manner of preventing suffering.  Something that the anti-vax nutters never seem to get into their heads.  So putting actual numbers to some of the cost, here is a quick article:

On top of all the other problems that measles outbreaks cause, monetary costs can also be quite significant. As the recent outbreak in Utah shows, relatively small outbreaks (in terms of overall numbers) can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to deal with. The Utah measles outbreak cost $130,000 and 3,000 work hours to contain. At the end 9 people were infected, 184 were put in voluntary quarantine for up to 21 days.

As bad as that is, it pales in comparison to the 2008 Arizona outbreak. That outbreak started when an infected Swiss traveler visited one hospital. By the end 14 people were infected, involving two different hospitals with total costs of almost $800,000. For a detailed description of how that specific outbreak unfolded read this article at Wired.com.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE.

And all this isn't from some third world country (only one with a third world like health-care system).

The Human Cost of Andrew Wakefield

For those who are unaware of this fine example of humanity, Andrew Wakefield was the doctor who was responsible for the shoddy piece of research that lead to the rumour that measles vaccines can cause autism. 

The MMR vaccine was the primary focus of the anti-vaccine stance since this was the vaccine that people believed PROVED a link between vaccination and illness. Turns out it did not. 

This has caused a rise in outbreaks across Europe and America particularly when measles sufferers have travelled from reservoirs of disease in the east. And this has come to haunt us. 

Currently there are 6500 cases across Europe, far higher than the national average. For instance in 2010 France has had 5090 cases. While between January to March this year there have been 4937 cases and rising. The same is seen in the UK with the sudden boom in cases reaching 330 cases. 

The fault lies in the lack of vaccination. It is clear and simple. Money that could have been saved by vaccination is now being spent ensuring these kids survive their disease without the harm that it can cause. Post Wakefield fewer children were vaccinated at one point dropping to nearly 50%, and more and more cases were seen until the current epidemic. 85% of the people are vaccinated but the disease is highly contagious with an infection rate of 90%. If you are un-vaccinated and run into a measles sufferer in the same area or having passed through the same area, then there is a 90% chance of catching the disease. 

The price people paid for measles was a high one. Modern technology has softened the blow but the blow is still there. Fewer people will be deaf or blind or have developmental disorders but this is a disease preventable by vaccination. The number and cost would have been a lot cheaper. 

The attitude of the anti-vaccine movement was like encouraging people to not wear seatbelts. Now the car has crashed. The question remains is whether we can contain the spread of a disease that is airborne or not before it costs us more lives. 

We need vaccination, and we need it now, before we pay the price in bodies rather than in Pounds and Euros. 

BBC News: Measles in the UK

IVAN3MAN sent me this link about measles in the UK.  The thing to note here is that the UK is not some third world country here, but one of the more modern nations on earth.  Yet people are needlessly suffering due to the lies of one person.  Some basic facts for you before I present the article (emphasis mine):

Measles cases in Europe

Jan-April 2011

• France - 7321*
• Spain - 657
• Switzerland - 390
• UK - 345
• Germany - 276*

*Jan-March figure / Source: EUvac

Measles Q&A

• How safe is it to take children to mainland Europe who have had two doses of the MMR vaccine?

It gives 99% protection against the measles virus.

• What if they have had only one dose of MMR?

One dose is better than none, but two doses is better than one. If you are concerned about travelling to an outbreak area you can bring forward the second MMR dose. Speak to your GP about it.

• What if my children are not vaccinated at all?

The advice is to go to your GP and arrange for them to be immunised as soon as possible before you travel. Measles is a dangerous viral illness which can be fatal.
BBC Health - Measle

MEASLES FACTS

• It is a highly infectious viral illness
• It causes a fever, coughing and distinctive red-brown spots on the skin
• Measles is contracted by breathing in tiny droplets created when an infected person coughs or sneezes
• Possible complications include pneumonia, ear and eye infections and croup
• Serious complications include inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), which can be fatal
• Measles in pregnancy can cause miscarriage, premature labour or a baby with low birth weight
• The most effective way of preventing measles is the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine
• There is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism

Measles outbreak prompts plea to vaccinate children

By Philippa Roxby Health reporter, BBC News

Parents in England and Wales are being urged to have their children vaccinated after a tenfold rise in measles cases in the first four months of the year.

The Health Protection Agency reported 334 cases compared with 33 in the similar period last year.
The outbreak is thought to be linked to an epidemic in France, where 7,000 cases have been reported since January - more than in the whole of 2010.

The HPA says it is "crucial" that those at risk are fully immunised.

It says the latest cases are mainly among unvaccinated people under 25 years old and are centred on "small clusters in universities, schools or families or associated with travel abroad".

Worst-hit are London and the South East, with 104 and 102 confirmed cases respectively in the first quarter of this year.

Recently the Health Protection Agency sent out letters to some primary schools and further education colleges in London warning of the risks of taking children who are not fully immunised to mainland Europe.

'Potentially dangerous'

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at the Health Protection Agency, warned parents and young adults of the importance of immunisation.

"Although MMR coverage has improved over the last few years, we cannot stress enough that measles is serious and in some cases it can be fatal.

 CLICK HERE TO READ REST OF STORY.

Measels Outbreak in the USA

So, is it only third world countries that have outbreaks of diseases that are easy to prevent?  Apparently not!  Or is the United States getting dragged into the third world status by abject denial of reality and science?  Maybe that is really what the anti-vaxers want?

Anyway, here is a news report from CBS News on the measles outbreak in the US.  It's a public health shame/crime that this is happening.

Wired: What Vaccine Refusal Really Costs: Measles in Arizona

Remember how I said that one canard the anti-vax pro-disease nutters pull out is that diseases like measles only affects third world countries?  Well, it could almost be argued that Arizona is attempting to be a third world country, along with the rest of the US healthcare system, but it isn't quite there yet.  So it is so sad to see these sort of things happening.  Furthermore, the comments section is run over by the ill informed and plain deluded proclaiming that vaccines are dangerous...  Looks like the fight must go on.  Remember:

• Being born is a terminal condition.
• No one who is responsible or in reality is suggestion that a vaccine is 100% safe.  Nothing in life is.  However, a vaccine is demonstrably and measurably better than getting the disease it prevents.
• People have forgotten what it was like to live under the fear of Polio and smallpox.  I for one do not want that fear brought back, yet the actions of anti-vax pro-disease nutters seems to be enabling that.

Anyway, here is an article from Wired, so you know it has a lot of exposure, and the comments section will make your head hurt.  Feel free to join in on the fight (and it IS a fight for public welfare and health).

What Vaccine Refusal Really Costs: Measles in Arizona

Every once in a while, there’s news of a measles outbreak. On the surface, they don’t involve large numbers of cases — there’s one in Minneapolis right now that has racked up 21 cases so far — and so people seem to wonder why these outbreaks are such a big deal.

Here’s one reason why: Measles transmission within the US stopped in 2000 because of vaccination. Outbreaks here start with an importation from somewhere else where the disease still flourishes — but they gain a foothold because lack of vaccination, primarily from vaccine refusal, lets the disease get past what should be an impregnable barrier of herd immunity to attack those who are too young to be vaccinated or whose immunity has faded.

Here’s another reason: Stopping the measles virus before it can cause serious disease — and by “serious,” I mean deafness, pneumonia, encephalitis and miscarriage — is incredibly costly and labor-intensive. An account published overnight in the Journal of Infectious Diseases gives a glimpse at just how costly. To stop a 14-person outbreak that began with one unvaccinated tourist visiting a US emergency room, the Arizona Department of Health had to track down and interview 8,321 people; seven Tucson hospitals had to furlough staff members for a combined 15,120 work-hours; and two hospitals where patients were admitted spent $799,136 to contain the disease.


Here’s how the outbreak unfolded:

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY!

Just the Vax: Death by Measels

Now, sometimes I hear things from the anti-vax pro-disease nutters that just makes me wonder if they live on the same planet.  Some examples are:  "Measles isn't really deadly."  "People who die of measles are in third world countries."  And equally ridiculous non-sense.  So here is an entry from the "Just the Vax" website:

Death by measles

I just found the news that a young man died of measles in Germany this Spring. Germany has had more than 390 measles cases since the beginning of the year, mainly in the Southern most federal states (Bundesländer) of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

In March 2011, a 26 year old man, undergoing treatment for a non life threatening tumour contracted measles and died. While in hospital, he infected at least one further patient as well as several unvaccinated medical staff, including doctors. Dr. Martin Terhardt of the Professional Association of Pediatricians (Berufsverband der Kinder- und Jugendärzte (BVKJ)) states the obvious:

"It is unacceptable that unvaccinated personnel exists in hospitals. When unvaccinated doctors or nurses have access to intensive care, it becomes very dangerous, both for the personnel themselves and for the patients. Patients who are being treated in intensive care are often immuno-compromised - an additional infection therefore has to be avoided at all cost. Doctors and other medical care personnel must have adequate protection through immunization. The fact that a patient with measles could cause an outbreak amongst medical personnel is absurd."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY.

Vaccine Times: Measles outbreaks traced back to unvaccinated individuals

When I was a student at RPI, we would often go to hockey games, and when our team scored on a power play, we would taunt the guy in the penalty box by yelling, "It's all your fault!" several times over.  (This was back in the day when RPI won most of their hockey games.)  Well, in the anti-vax pro-disease movement, when we see an outbreak of vaccine preventable diseases, we can point at those nutters and tell them it's all their fault.  Unlike the poor guy in the penalty box, I rarely see ever an inkling of remorse from these public dangers...  Vaccine Times has a great write up:

Anti-vaccine proponents always try to make the vaccine talk into a “parent’s rights” discussion. It should be up to the parent to decide if their child should get vaccinated, no one else, period, they say. Besides the obvious reply, that children are not property and while parents have some rights, at some point the parent’s right to be wrong ends, and the child’s right to a life as free from pain, suffering and death begins, there is another reply to that line of reasoning: vaccinating or not, is not solely an individual choice. It affects others. You may choose to take the risk of getting the disease for yourself, that is clearly your personal choice (assuming you’re an adult of sane mind as is required for most other decisions), but where does your right to get sick end, and other’s right not to be infected by you begin? People who choose not to vaccinate are not solely making a decision for themselves, they are making it for others as well. And those parents who decide not to vaccinate their kids aren’t making a decision for their kids only, they’re making it for other children too, children who maybe cannot get vaccinated for health reasons, and as such rely on those around them to protect them from life-threatening diseases.

READ THE FULL ENTRY HERE!

Measles outbreak hits Europe, most cases in France; WHO blames lack of vaccinations

In the "it was bound to happen" category, I present you with this story.  It is sad that such a preventable disease is gaining a foothold, and in areas of the world that are considered "civilized" or first world.  This is not an area of the world with no infrastructure, or no access to healthcare, but nations very much like the US (and in terms of access to healthcare, actually much better off).  And this is something that can be laid directly at the feet of the anti-vax pro-disease nutters.  I hope they are happy (because clearly remorse is not something they would ever feel because they think they are right).

GENEVA — Europe, especially France, has been hit by a major outbreak of measles, which the U.N. health agency is blaming on the failure to vaccinate all children.

The World Health Organization said Thursday that France had 4,937 reported cases of measles between January and March — compared with 5,090 cases during all of 2010. In all, more than 6,500 cases have been reported in 33 European nations.

“This is a lot of cases, to put it mildly. In past years we’ve had very few cases,” said Rebecca Martin, head of WHO’s office in Copenhagen for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization.

“There’s been a buildup of children who have not been immunized over the years,” she said. “It’s almost like a threshold. When you have enough people who have not been immunized, then outbreaks can occur."

READ REST OF STORY HERE.

Vaccine Times: Massive measles outbreak in Congo kills at least 210

Well, to those who read yesterday's post on my personal blog about diseases here in North America, I present you with a vision of what the anti-vax pro-disease movement wants (my emphasis):

A measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sickened over 21,000 and killed at least 210, it is being reported. 106 of the dead are being reported to have been children. A massive Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) aid campaign has been underway since September 2010. Over 1.5  million children have been  vaccinated so far, but it appears the epidemic is still spreading.

The outbreak seems to have started sometime mid-year in 2010 and has been spreading ever since. Unfortunately, the vaccination efforts don’t seem to have slowed down its spread yet. According to Gaël Hankenne, Medecins Sans Frontieres head of Mission in the DRC: “The measles epidemic is spiralling out of control…”. Measles is a highly contagious disease. According to the WHO:

Measles is a highly contagious, serious disease caused by a virus.

It remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine. An estimated 164 000 people died from measles in 2008 – mostly children under the age of five.

The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia. As high as 10% of measles cases result in death among populations with high levels of malnutrition and a lack of adequate health care.

READ REST OF STORY HERE.

What?  You say that the anti-vax pro-disease people don't want this?  Well, by their words and actions, I can tell you that they are fooling everyone.  Because by advocating against vaccines, they are advocating FOR diseases.  Plain and simple.  There is no grey area, this is about as settled a question as the speed of light or law of gravitational attraction.

Also, notice that the outbreak started before the vaccines were introduced into the area.   Getting a vaccine when already infected probably won't save you.  So should an outbreak happen in a heavily anti-vax pro-disease area, it will probably be too late.  And remember, measles did kill people in the US too.

Vaccine Times: Minnesota Measles Outbreak Update

Pay attention to the part I added emphasis to from Vaccine Times.  All it takes is one person to rapidly infect an unvaccinated community.  Unless you turn your entire family into a "bubble boy" family, the chances that you will put you and your family in danger is virtually 100%.  Especially in this world where travel is easily accessible to nearly every person.  And vaccines are as easily accessible, and should be used!

A Measles outbreak is underway in Minnesota. As of 03/30/11 there have been 14 cases, 11 unvaccinated and 3 unknonwn, of the disease, as reported by the Department of Health of Minnesota.

Situation Update (3/30/11)
There have been 14 confirmed cases of measles reported in Minnesota. Thirteen of the cases have been linked to a case that acquired infection in Kenya and one case acquired infection in Florida. Cases have ranged in age from 4 months to 51 years old. Five of the cases were too young to receive vaccine, six were of age but were not vaccinated, and three have unknown vaccine status. There have been eight hospitalizations and no deaths.

The outbreak started with an unvaccinated child traveling to Kenya where he/she picked up the disease. That child ended up being the cause of infection in 12 other people. In related news, 2 measles cases have been reported in NYC and 1 in California, all in people traveling to foreign countries. All this goes to prove what we in the pro-health community have been saying all along: these diseases might appear to have disappeared, but they’re only one plane ride away.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY.

Just the Vax: 2008: Measles in Dr. Bob Sears' Waiting Room

The continued irresponsibility and danger to the public from "dr" Bob...  Someone should see what it would take to start the paperwork to revoke the license of this guy.  I understand that some people pine for "the way things were" but if you would rather die from easily preventable diseases, I would thank you to not place the rest of us who like reality and science in danger.  And that is exactly what you are doing.  Because of the likes of reality denying miscreants, people like Dana McCaffery are dead, and I see no remorse, just some misplaced smug vindication that is diametrically opposed to common sense.

So I hope that the anti-vax pro-disease nutters are happy with the swath of needless death they are causing.  They are on the same level as the idiots proclaiming the rapture on 21 MAY 11.  Totally disconnected from reality, and totally and 100% wrong.  You would think that they would realize how deluded they are, but then you can't reach this level of delusion with reality.  Instead, I urge parents to ignore these obvious lies and do what is best for their own children as well as all the children their children come in contact with.  Get vaccinated!

2008: Measles in dr. Bob Sears' Waiting Room

I thought this to be a timely topic given the current measles outbreak that is occurring in a very undervaccinated population in Minnesota.  Thus far, there are 14 cases in Hennepin County, 13 of which are epidemiologically-linked in the Somali population there.  This situation highlights the infectiousness of measles and how easily it can be spread to immunologically-naive people, even with overall high vaccination rates.  Uptake of MMR is estimated to be greater than 95% in 70% of U.S. schools, however, private schools are not surveyed and 12 states were below 95% with some as low as 81%.  There is also geographical clustering of "like-minded" people in communities that leave large numbers of susceptible children at risk for measles.  Additionally, lists of "vaccine-friendly" doctors, like this one provided by Dr. Bob can be geographically-linked to large numbers of school exemptions for vaccines.

This is what can, has and will happen again with the current recommendations that these "vaccine-friendly" doctors make:  In 2008, an intentionally unvaccinated 7 year old child came back to the states from a visit to Switzerland with his parents.

In January 2008, measles was identified in an unvaccinated boy from San Diego, California, who had recently traveled to Europe with his family. After his case was confirmed, an outbreak investigation and response were initiated by local and state health departments in coordination with CDC, using standard measles surveillance case definitions and classifications.* This report summarizes the preliminary results of that investigation, which has identified 11 additional cases of measles in unvaccinated children in San Diego that are linked epidemiologically to the index case and include two generations of secondary transmission. Recommendations for preventing further measles transmission from importations in this and other U.S. settings include reminding health-care providers to 1) consider a diagnosis of measles in ill persons who have traveled overseas, 2) use appropriate infection-control practices to prevent transmission in health-care settings, and 3) maintain high coverage with measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine among children.

The index patient was an unvaccinated boy aged 7 years who had visited Switzerland with his family, returning to the United States on January 13, 2008. He had fever and sore throat on January 21, followed by cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis. On January 24, he attended school. On January 25, the date of his rash onset, he visited the offices of his family physician and his pediatrician. A diagnosis of scarlet fever was ruled out on the basis of a negative rapid test for streptococcus. When the boy's condition became worse on January 26, he visited a children's hospital inpatient laboratory, where blood specimens were collected for measles antibody testing; later that day, he was taken to the same hospital's emergency department because of high fever 104°F (40°C) and generalized rash. No isolation precautions were instituted at the doctors' offices or hospital facilities.

READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY HERE.

Greg Laden: The Measles Vaccine is Safe and Effective

Greg Laden just posted a quick blurb about the measles.  I encourage you to read it.  And to think that yet again someone is sick because of the irresponsible actions of those around them.

The Measles Vaccine is Safe and Effective

Posted on: March 17, 2011 4:35 PM, by Greg Laden

As we speak, several children lie gravely ill in Minneapolis, struck down by a preventable but sometimes fatal childhood disease.

One of the children is an infant who was too young to have been vaccinated, but caught the disease, apparently, from someone old enough to be vaccinated but who was not.

Get your children vaccinated. 

Learn about measles here. Read about vaccination here.

 Since this is such a short entry, the entire article is reposted here.  CLICK HERE TO READ COMMENTS FROM THIS POST.  And there are many interesting comments, so you need to head over there.