Why Blame “Anti-Vaxxers” Instead of Immigrants for Measles Outbreaks?
The usual clickbait sites are gleefully blaming “anti-vaxxers”, parents opposed to vaccines for their children, for the measles outbreak. They are certainly a safe target, but overlooked is the simple fact that there would be no outbreaks without immigration from countries where measles is widespread.
So much vitriol is spent on blaming parents who don’t vaccinate, while blaming those who import the disease, especially Obama with his border rush amnesty, is politically incorrect.
Asked if the anti-vaccination movement contributed to the latest outbreak in California, a spokesman for the state health department Carlos Villatoro, said in an email: “We think that unvaccinated individuals have been the principal factor.”
Obviously unvaccinated individuals are a factor and the average liberal smiles having his prejudices reaffirmed. But unvaccinated, does not necessarily mean those opposed to vaccinations.
The United States eliminated measles, but immigration, particularly from the Third World, kept bringing it back.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association — Pediatrics last year found that 88 percent of measles cases in the country “were internationally imported or epidemiologically or virologically linked to importation.”
There were a few cases not linked to any kind of importation over a period from 2001 to 2011, but they did not seem to be endemic, researchers said. The study ultimately found that while endemic measles was still eliminated, international importation remained a serious risk.
As long as people are traveling to and from other countries, and as long as some of these people may be unvaccinated and they may come into contact with other unvaccinated people, the risk remains of measles cases in the United States.
It’s doubtful that measles cases skyrocketed last year, increasingly threefold, because of Jenny McCarthy. There was a little thing called amnesty which brought with it a border rush and plenty of other diseases.
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Illegal immigration is not responsible for the recent Disneyland outbreak. That case of measles was probably imported by a visitor from the Philippines, where there has been a huge outbreak. Outbreaks have also occurred when unvaccinated Americans visited some place where measles is endemic and brought it back.
The problem with measles is that it is contagious days before symptoms appear. It is also one of the most contagious diseases known. So not only is the airport fever sensor *not* going to detect someone who is contagious with measles, when that contagious person walks through the airport, he exposes everyone who walks in the same areas as long as 2 hours later. And anyone who is unvaccinated *will* get measles.
Another "benefit" of catching measles is that it wipes out immunity to other diseases you have already had. For about two years, you will be more likely to die of any infectious disease because of the suppressive effect measles has on the immune system.