Anti-vax pro-disease nutters make people sick

Anti-vaxers seem to have a problem with reality.  Even when you give them real, hard data.  So, I just wanted to put these two links up.  basically, because these nutters want to go against reality, people are getting sick from preventable diseases.  Not only sick, but infants are DYING as well...

The Bad Astronomer has this to say:

Washington pertussis outbreak is very, very bad

This is one of the scariest graphs I’ve seen in a long time.

This plot, from the CDC, shows probable and confirmed cases of pertussis – whooping cough – in the state of Washington from 2011 through June 2012. Last year’s numbers are the short, light-blue-grey rectangles, and this year’s are the dark blue. The plot is by week, so you can see the 2011 numbers slowly growing across the year; then this year’s numbers suddenly taking a huge leap upward. They are reporting the new rate as 13 times larger than last year. Note that 83% of these cases have been confirmed as being pertussis, while 17% are probable. The drop in recent weeks is due to a lag in complete reporting of cases.
Got that? There are 13 times as many people – more than 2500 in total so far – getting pertussis right now as there were last year at this time in Washington. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST.

Not only did the Bad Astronomer have this to post, but Steve Salzberg was the original poster that Dr. Plait generated his post from.  Of course, the source material was from the CDC, which thanks to nutters is having a hard time on that last C in their name...

Anti-vaccination propagandists help create the worst whooping cough epidemic in 70 years

By Steven Salzberg on 7/22/2012 07:00:00 AM

The great northwest of the U.S. is known for its natural beauty.  It's also a high-tech region with a highly educated public - not exactly the kind of place one would expect to fall for the anti-science rhetoric of the anti-vaccine movement.

But it has.  The anti-vaxxers have convinced a frighteningly high number of parents in Washington State to withhold vaccines from their children.  A story in The Seattle Times last year reported that 

"Washington [state] parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kindergartners at a rate higher than anywhere else in the country."  

This despite the fact that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (formed by the founder of Microsoft, which is headquartered in Seattle) is one of the world's leading sponsors of vaccine research.  

When the vaccination rates drop, everyone becomes more vulnerable to infectious diseases.  When more than 90% of the population is vaccinated, we have "herd immunity" - this means the disease can't spread because there aren't enough susceptible people in the community.  So the high rate of vaccine refusal in Washington makes it easier for whooping cough (and other diseases) to spread.

The media has been complicit in spreading some of anti-vaccine misinformation.  Sometimes it comes straight from the media itself, such as the credulous, anti-science, anti-vax CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson. Other times it comes from talk shows, magazines, or even airline advertisements that provide a platform for anti-vax celebrity doctors such as Jay Gordon (who gained fame as Jenny McCarthy's son's doctor) and "Dr. Bob" Sears, who has published his own "alternative" vaccine schedule in a book filled with anti-vaccine nonsense.  These characters continue to claim, at every chance they get, that vaccines cause autism (as Gordon has said, repeatedly), or that they cause other harms, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  They use their medical degrees and their faux concern "for the children" to frighten parents into keeping their kids unvaccinated.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS POST

I only wish that there was a way to criminally prosecute these nutters for the pain and suffering they are causing.

The Vaccine Times: Whooping Cough outbreak sickens over 140 people in Canada

We all know that Canada is just one of those third world nations with no infrastructure and no access to any health care what so ever, right?  Right? Well, The Vaccine Times found this gem that I wanted to pass along.

A whooping cough outbreak in British Columbia, Canada has sickened more than 140 people since December, prompting Canadian Health authorities to issue a warning. Hotspots  include the Fraser Valley, Hope, Chilliwack and Agassiz areas. If you are traveling to the area make sure you have received your booster shot, and especially if traveling with children make sure they are up-to-date with their DTaP vaccine. Pertussis can be particularly dangerous if caught by a young child, especially a baby who hasn’t had a chance to be vaccinated yet.

Related articles

• Whooping cough spreading in B.C.’s Fraser Valley (cbc.ca)
• Spread of whooping cough in Fraser Valley spurs call for vaccinations (thestar.com)

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.