Epidemics and vaccinations...

[bae]

I just got back from our Fire/EMS medical run review. The Doc had some interesting things to say...

We had this last week a Patient Zero measles case. Fellow on vacation, came back from East Asia, went back to work as a server at the largest, busiest restaurant on our busiest island, mingled at several high-volume public places, basically managed to expose a good portion of the population of *that* island to measles before he became particularly symptomatic. Multiple new cases already popping up on that island from people who interacted with him. (The normal measles transmission rate is 1 person infects 12 others, this guy though was particularly well placed to infect hundreds.)

Fine, OK, we know the epidemic drill. We went over measles facts, how to protect ourselves, how to triage patients (Example: you don't want to put them in the ambulance unless you need to, because it takes about 2 hours after you clean the ambulance before the virus is truly dead. You don't want to walk them in the front door of one of our few medical centers, for similar reasons. It's easy to take most of your medical resources offline before you know it...)

What set me off: the doctor tells me that on several of our populated islands, the immunization rate for school-age-children is only about 60%. Parents have decided to rely on herd immunity, and not immunize their own children. Worse yet, on one of the islands, the one with the lowest immunization rate, a good portion of the EMS folks are also not immunized...

Really??!?!?!

My department requires blood proof of immunization for a zillion things before we let you walk in the door as a responder. The several schools I ran here wouldn't let children attend without immunization (for which I got incredible grief.).


YYYYYYAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! (That was the sound of a chakra rebalancing...)

The Sheriff also didn't know about the immunization status of his deputies. So the entire department could easily go offline in the next few weeks.

Should be fun. Good timing, what with the season finale of The Walking Dead already broadcast last weekend.

[iris lily]

Those immunizations cause Autism. I learned that from that celebrity girl, Jenny someone.* Looks like those rugged individuals out on your islands are overly dependent on Jenny-wisdom.

Fortunately I am very old, immunized with the real deal, measles-the-disease. I'll come do a stint in EMT on the islands.

*not really.

[sweetana3]

I would volunteer too but am too far away. I think I have had everything. I seem to remember multiple types of measles but they all blend together. Oh, yes, chicken pox and mumps also.

[Miss Cellane]

New York City is also experiencing an outbreak of measles--but the number of infected is below 30. But it keeps spreading throughout the city. Some of the infected were immunized though, so maybe this is a new strain?

I read somewhere last week that at the beginning of the century, measles was considered eradicated in the US. That led people to decide not to vaccinate their kids. The "herd" immunity isn't as strong as it used to be.

And there are pockets of outbreaks in California and Massachusetts and a few other states as well.

I also wonder what effect this winter has had with viruses. I know I spent a lot more time indoors this winter, due to the extreme cold and snow. And that meant more time in heated rooms with other people, instead of my usual hour a day out tramping through the woods (or the parks, when the snow gets too deep).

The link with autism and vaccinations has been proven false. Why do people still insist on believing it?

[flowerseverywhere]

Some people are lazy, some are misinformed, and some are stupid. My grandkids have an aunt who is a pediatrician and she would go ballistic if they were not properly immunized. She Is super smart and is a top pediatrician in a big city and would never expose her kids or others to anything that would be harmful.

We we have not seen plagues and epidemics in our lifetime, but chances are we will the way things are going. I worked as a nurse and you can bet before they let us the door of nursing school,everything had to be up to date.

[catherine]

Yeah, I just was in Seattle and I heard about the measles outbreak on the news, and was thinking of you, bae I don't know what island you are on, but they were talking about the "islands" so I assumed one might have been yours.

[razz]

Having measles outbreaks in Canada as well with the movement from other countries and lack of local immunization.

"The measles case announced by public health officials over the weekend is linked to a previous case in Hamilton from earlier this month, CBC News has learned. It stems from a confirmed measles infection that came from a person who travelled to the Philippines on March 14."
"Two new cases of the measles have been confirmed in Calgary."
"Measles outbreak in BC reaches 300-plus, tied to 4 US cases ..."

[lmerullo]

I had the measles when I was a baby. Both of my children were immunized...

However, related to the epidemic side: My hubby has shingles, first symptom on Tuesday, went to doc on Wednesday and has anti-viral meds. However, I have never had chicken pox. Both of my children had it when they were young, and I didn't catch it then... however, in asking around - seems it can be contagious when there is direct contact to the rash. Of course, hubby and I live in the same home and even sleep in the same bed (Gasp!) I spent last evening in decontamination mode, washing all sheets / towels / etc in hot water with bleach and drying in the dryer on *blast*... He's been instructed to use a towel ONCE and place directly in hamper, then said hamper will be emptied into the washer... Question: How contagious is this? Am I unduly freaking out? (Every part of my body itches / tingles now - kind of like when someone says "lice" and you can't stop scratching your head.)

[CathyA]

To play the devil's advocate............it can be a hard decision to make. I, personally, don't trust alot of what the government tells me is safe and what isn't safe. Maybe for the majority of people who get vaccinations, it goes without a hitch. But if you're one of the unfortunate ones who develops bad symptoms right after you've gotten a vaccination, then you are much more concerned.

Yes, it appears to save a number of lives.......but when your own life is torn apart from what seems like a bad reaction to a vaccination, then you're feelings are going to be different.
I'm just glad I got my kids vaccinated before I heard about the people who weren't so lucky. And we didn't seem to have problems............but........who knows why my son got ADHD, or my daughter has a couple challenges.
Maybe some people are "stupid", but some people are quite bright and are just trying to make the best decision they can, based on some of the reports and what they have personally experienced.

On the other hand......we in this country haven't experienced horrible epidemics, except maybe with polio and large numbers of our children haven't died from whooping cough, etc.,.............so we haven't seen how much the vaccinations have helped.

At this point, I don't want to make a judgement...........

[Tammy]

http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/2...-and-shingles/