Posted on 06/05/2014 2:27:37 PM PDT by thetallguy24
When most people think of diseases such as measles and tuberculosis, they imagine Dickensian images of a bygone era before the advent of widespread vaccinations and disease ridden slums. After all, tuberculosis did to Doc Holliday what so many others were unable to, kill him. While we may associate these as being a dangerous threat from a simpler time, there are alarming new trends that suggest they are making a comeback. In the year 2013, the Center for Disease Control recorded the highest number of both tuberculosis and measles in the last twenty years, which begs the question, in the age of widespread vaccination against such ailments, what is causing this sudden upswing?
First, it is important to delve into how these diseases are even spread in the first place. Thanks to the widespread use of vaccinations in the United States over the last fifty years, the CDC estimates that approximately 90-95% of the U.S. population is immune to diseases, such as TB and measles. This percentage rate has resulted in what the medical community calls “herd immunity.” This term suggests that because such a large percentage of the population is protected, it is extremely difficult for diseases to spread, even to those who may not be immunized. However, in the last two decades there have been several communities in which this herd immunity has declined significantly.
In August of 2013, an outbreak of measles was declared among members of the Eagle Mountain International Church, northwest of Dallas, where twenty-one parishioners were confirmed to have the disease and had to be treated. The disease was initially brought back to the U.S. by a visitor to the church who had recently returned from traveling overseas. It quickly spread among the unprotected churchgoers who were not vaccinated over fears that such vaccines are linked to autism. While normally the disease would be unable to spread due to herd immunity, this case illustrates the danger these diseases still pose when this immunity is weakened in communities that have high percentages of people who are not protected.
Alongside measles, tuberculosis is also making a comeback in the United States. California, Texas, and New York all reported over 500 new cases of the disease in 2013 alone. And while recent measles outbreaks can be directly attributed to anti-vaccination communities, the spread in tuberculosis has been most widely seen in the two largest immigrant groups to the United States, those from Mexico and China. According to a CDC risk assessment, those born in a foreign country are the most likely to be afflicted with tuberculosis, as they may not have received the proper immunizations to protect them. However, according to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996, the INS must require would-be immigrants to the United States to prove that they have received all necessary immunizations before entering the country.
The over representation of tuberculosis in foreign-born communities suggests one of two things, either the INS is not up to snuff in requiring proper documentation for entering immigrants, or immigrants from China and Mexico are coming to the United States illegally with these diseases and are not subject to normal INS protocol designed to keep diseases from getting into the country. Regardless of which possibility is responsible, this represents a direct threat to the populace of the United States. As more and more people enter the country, unprotected from communicable disease, the heard immunity rate decreases and makes it much easier for these diseases to spread across the population.
Sadly, the people most affected by this are the children in our schools. Because of the consistent contact with numerous different people day in and day out, the chances of a communicable taking hold there are much higher. In 2011, over 200 people were confirmed to have latent tuberculosis infections that were initially spread by only one individual. In the last year Irving ISD had two scares which resulted in over 100 people testing positive for TB.
A recent survey of incoming refugees and immigrants in which 7.5% tested positive for a Class A or Class B medical condition, which includes TB, syphilis, chancroid, gonorrhea, leprosy, and HIV. According to US Census Bureau figures, there are approximately 11 illegal immigrants living in the United States, many of which may not have received the same protections against communicable diseases as you and I. If that same percentage was applied to the illegal immigrant population, then roughly 825,000 would have these medical conditions. This biological threat is not limited those diseases; however, as there has been a recent outbreak of the parasite scabies among Border Patrol Agents that were contracted while apprehending those who would seek to enter the country illegally. This vulnerability to such pathogens and parasites not only poses a risk to the unprotected themselves, but to the population of the United States as a whole. As the world we live in gets smaller and smaller, it is imperative that we take the necessary steps to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent the spread of these diseases within our borders.
our open borders??
Duh? Any other answer is BS. Do our wonderful leaders care? Nope. They live in gated communities.
Are third world diseases coming to US or are we reverting to the third world?
I believe they are called ILLEGAL AILENS.
cant we call a spade a spade? And no, this is not racist.
can’t we call an ice rake an ice rake?
Both.
Jeb's grandkids are safe, however, in their private school.
Americans traveling to foreign countries tend to have had their vaccinations.
You left out the Koch brothers.
Yep, illegal aliens. Has to be.
Illegals and sexual promiscuity are the main causes.
Except for ones who are “not vaccinated over fears that such vaccines are linked to autism,” according to the article, and from all the accounts I’ve read about in the past.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
“90-95% of the U.S. population is immune to diseases”
true, except for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, autism, lupus, crohns, etc etc etc. but no measles or mumps.
Uninspected foreigners - illegal aliens
Maybe with a cold, flu or similar illness but we’re talking about major diseases. Millions of illegals and more pouring over our Texas border every minute. Bet not a one of them has had a vaccination for anything.
That is a relatively small number.
All I know is that when I travel abroad, I get a bunch of vaccinations renewed, even if it is to a first world country.
Obama
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