We're Doomed!
Posted on 04/04/2006 9:44:18 PM PDT by flutters
Iowa Has Worst Outbreak In Nation In 17 Years
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska may be on the verge of a mumps epidemic, according to the state epidemiologist.
An outbreak in Iowa has crossed into Omaha, and Adams County in central Nebraska hard. The newest suspected mumps case involves a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. State officials said the student was in Indiana on spring break
"We're pretty sure it's arrived here and moved across the river from Iowa," said Dr. Tom Safranek, the state epidemiologist.
Iowa has already seen nearly 300 cases of mumps. The mumps epidemic in Iowa is the nation's biggest outbreak of the disease in 17 years.
In Nebraska, 15 suspected cases have come from the Hastings area, and one each from Aurora, Superior, Omaha and Lincoln.
"A person from Superior worked with a railroad crew from Iowa. A person from Aurora had relatives in Iowa and had exposure. There was a wrestling team from central Nebraska wrestling in Council Bluffs," Safranek said.
Nearly all public schools and universities require students to get mumps vaccinations. But state health officials said it's not 100 percent effective. They suspect the virus is picking on those who did not respond to the vaccine or for some reason have lost immunity.
"There's clearly a concern. Cases are going up in Iowa and we're going to see the same in Nebraska," Safranek said.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has a Web page dedicated to mumps. It includes photos that show the classic swollen glands and cheeks from mumps. Experts said those infected may not show symptoms for a few days, but may still be contagious.
"That's why it can keep spreading and be very difficult to control," Safranek said.
Health officials said mumps usually goes away in 10 days, but complications could lead to things like viral meningitis.
Iowa experiencing mumps epidemic
And this from Scotland:
Illegal aliens, maybe?
Of course...and if small pox makes it across that border there will be deaths.
We're Doomed!
They think it's coming from England, possibly brought over by college students.
I dunno. Things come and go. That's one childhood illness I escaped, then got them in my twenties in CA (the 60's), sicker than a dog. Then I gave them to my husband's friend, no we were not in intimate contact, and he was worried that they would "drop" and affect his ability to father any more children.
Since that time, I don't remember any cases of the mumps in the news, but I could have missed them. Don't they innoculate kids against them along with measles, etc.?
I don't like to blame illegal aliens; they are getting blamed for enough unless it turns out that they are bringing them in. In any case, I doubt we'll be told by the CDC if they do figure it out.
The vaccine is a live virus. It is now combined with rubella and varicella...it wasn't like this in the past.
Weakened immune systems could make you vulnerable.
"In the United States, the latest national surveillance data show a significant, but slowing, decline in the case rate of TB. In 2004, a total of 14,511 TB cases were reported in the U.S. The overall TB case rate - 4.9 per 100,000 persons - was the lowest rate ever recorded since reporting began in 1953.
However, the decline in the case rate from 2003 to 2004 was one of the smallest in more than a decade (3.3 percent compared with an average of 6.8 percent per year). And despite the nationwide downward trend, TB continues to exact a severe toll on many U.S. communities.
Seven states now bear more than half the total burden of TB disease in the U.S. California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas account for 59.9% of the national case total. The toll continues to be greatest among minority and foreign-born individuals, who consistently have higher rates of TB disease."
Small pox was eradicated from the earth several years ago. If small pox comes across the border, it's because al-Quaida has managed to reverse engineer it.
Mumps Strikes 245, Puzzling Iowa Officials--From our state epidemiologist, as quoted in the article:But she added, "Our law does not allow us to identify entities associated with outbreaks."Read that statement very carefully...as she is trying to tell you something. This woman ONCE, at the beginning of Iowa's five year (so far) whooping cough epidemic (which is so severe as to cause total shutdowns of entire high schools), actually said in the DM Register that it was caused by un-vaccinated illegals. She is honest; she knows the problem; but is not allowed to directly communicate it for political reasons
Weakened immune systems could make you vulnerable.
If we can't blame the imigrants, the homersexuals are a likely cause? Some one has to say it. In reality, seldom is there only ONE cause for a problem.
That is what's happening in Iowa. Most of the patients had mumps shots. I'd like to blame illegals for this (I'm pretty sure they're responsible for the increase in tuberculosis), but it appears to be something else. Weak shots? Lost immunity? Who knows.
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