Posted on 02/11/2015 6:47:51 AM PST by Kaslin
There has been much debate recently over vaccination mandates, particularly in response to the measles outbreak currently taking place throughout the country.
At this juncture, there have been 102 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. during 2015, with 59 of them linked to a December 2014 visit to the Disneyland theme park in Southern California. (It is important to note that 11 of the cases associated with Disneyland were detected last year and, consequently, fall within the 2014 measles count.) This large outbreak has spread to at least a half-dozen other states, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently requesting that all health care professionals "consider measles when evaluating patients with febrile rash and ask about a patient's vaccine status, recent travel history and contact with individuals who have febrile rash illness."
One must understand that there is no specific antiviral therapy for measles and that 90 percent of those who are not vaccinated will contract measles if they are indeed exposed to the virus. This explains why Arizona health officials are monitoring more than 1,000 people after potential exposure to measles. These are pretty staggering numbers that should concern not only parents and children, but also the general populace.
I have been asked many times throughout the past week for my thoughts concerning the issue of vaccines. The important thing is to make sure the public understands that there is no substantial risk from vaccines and that the benefits are very significant. Although I strongly believe in individual rights and the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, I also recognize that public health and public safety are extremely important in our society. Certain communicable diseases have been largely eradicated by immunization policies in this country. We should not allow those diseases to return by forgoing safety immunization programs for philosophical, religious or other reasons when we have the means to eradicate them.
Obviously, there are exceptional situations to virtually everything, and we must have a mechanism whereby those can be heard. Nevertheless, there is public policy and health policy that we have to pay attention to regarding this matter. We already have policies in place at schools that require immunization records -- this is a positive thing. Studies have shown over the course of time that the risk-benefit ratio for vaccination is grossly in favor of being vaccinated as opposed to not.
There is no question that immunizations have been effective in eliminating diseases such as smallpox, which was devastating and lethal. When you have diseases that have been demonstrably curtailed or eradicated by immunization, why would you even think about not doing it? Certain people have discussed the possibility of potential health risks from vaccinations. I am not aware of scientific evidence of a direct correlation. I think there probably are people who may make a correlation where one does not exist, and that fear subsequently ignites, catches fire and spreads. But it is important to educate the public about what evidence actually exists.
I am very much in favor of parental rights for certain types of things. I am in favor of you and I having the freedom to drive a car. But do we have a right to drive without wearing our seatbelts? Do we have a right to text while we are driving? Studies have demonstrated that those are dangerous things to do, so it becomes a public safety issue. You have to be able to distinguish our rights versus the rights of the society in which we live, because we are all in this thing together. We have to be cognizant of the other people around us, and we must always bear in mind the safety of the population. That is key, and that is one of the responsibilities of government.
I am a small-government person, and I greatly oppose government intrusion into everything. Still, it is essential that we distinguish between those things that are important and those things that are just intruding upon our basic privacy. Whether to participate in childhood immunizations would be an individual choice if individuals were the only ones affected, but as previously mentioned, our children are part of our larger community. None of us lives in isolation. Your decision does not affect only you -- it also affects your fellow Americans.
Diseases like measles and whooping cough are making a comeback because of highly-misinformed parents (blame it on Jenny McCarthy, I used to say). Just wait until we have another polio outbreak because of these people....
If you've been vaccinated, then what's your worry?
You can’t discriminate against the ignorant...
Further, the mortality rate is 0.2 percent in those who do contract it. Most patients with uncomplicated measles will recover with rest and supportive treatment within a few days. Exactly WHY is this sch a global focus?
I vote we just vaccinate all the illegal aliens. :-)
Well then, you'd better start thinking.
I am in favor of you and I having the freedom to drive a car. But do we have a right to drive without wearing our seatbelts? Do we have a right to text while we are driving? Studies have demonstrated that those are dangerous things to do, so it becomes a public safety issue. You have to be able to distinguish our rights versus the rights of the society in which we live, because we are all in this thing together. We have to be cognizant of the other people around us, and we must always bear in mind the safety of the population. That is key, and that is one of the responsibilities of government.
Until EEOC is ended for firefighters, cops, LEO's in general, school bus (any bus) drivers, etc... this argument doesn't hold water. Our "public safety" is at risk due to not hiring the best, but the "quota".
Considering MANDATED meds for ~100 cases..?! There's a reason for this narrative. Control. Obamacare is coming up to speed.
More people die from bad pharmaceuticals ( approved by government) every year...and from salmonella from bad food growing and processing (government overseers)....Where is the outrage?
Yeah they are making a comeback because of the illegals that are allowed to enter this country unvaccinated. If you are vaccinated against measles or had measles you are immune. I don’t know about whooping cough as I never had it, and neither did my children or my brothers and sister.
I always get my annual flu shot with out preservative. Is that what Mercury was for? I had a weird skin reaction to a flu shot about three years ago and the preservative free vaccine is easy to find and I have never had that reaction again.
YES...what you wrote...enterovirus is more deadly.
I hate to say this about our country...but I agree with you!
Yup. The flu vaccine is really the only one left with any mercury preservative in it, and, as you said, it’s easy to find the preservative-free version. Heck, around me, the CVS flu shot clinic asks everyone if they want it.
>> It is highly unlikely that the measles came from the illegals <<
Probably correct. I think the most dangerous place to take your unvaccinated (that is, “unvaccinatable”) newborn infant might be the produce section of your neighborhood Whole Foods store.
And when you park your car in the store’s lot, try not to let your kids approach a Volvo, Prius hybrid, or BMW that has a child’s seat.
Actually, in the 10 years prior to the vaccine the mortality rate was 0.017% with a further permanent injury rate of 0.033%
Any doctor who claims to know of NO PERSON injured by a vaccine is a liar.
>> If you’ve been vaccinated, then what’s your worry? <<
1. Children under one year of age should not be vaccinated. And as such, they are extremely vulnerable to measles-generated encephalitis, which can cause lifelong brain damage.
2. Even among vaccinated people, the immunity sometimes doesn’t “take” — or it wears off.
Umm...yes! It might not be the safest thing to do, but how does my driving without my seatbelt affect anyone else?
Yes, I don’t understand this. Even the literature in/on the box of the vaccine lists possible side effects, some severe.
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