Anti-vaxxers face backlash as measles cases surge

[Stevicus]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9d603f042d32

The resurgence of measles across the United States is spurring a backlash against vaccine critics, from congressional hearings probing the spread of vaccine misinformation to state measures that would make it harder for parents to opt out of immunizing their children.

In Washington state, where the worst measles outbreak in more than two decades has sickened nearly 70 people and cost over $1 million, two measures are advancing through the state legislature that would bar parents from using personal or philosophical exemptions to avoid immunizing their school-age children. Both have bipartisan support despite strong anti-vaccination sentiment in parts of the state.

In Arizona, Iowa and Minnesota, lawmakers have for the first time introduced similar measures. The efforts have sparked an emotional, sometimes ugly response from those protesting what they see as efforts to trample on their rights. Opponents of the Arizona bill, which died quickly, have described the toll of stricter vaccine requirements as a Holocaust and likened the bill’s sponsor, who is Jewish, to a Nazi.

The article also mentions that vaccine hesitancy is growing into a global health problem.

All those actions are happening against a backdrop of rising global concern about vaccine hesitancy as cases of measles have surged because of gaps in vaccination coverage. For the first time, the World Health Organization listed vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 global threats of 2019.

I was actually somewhat surprised to read this, since I thought the anti-vaccination movement was actually quite small and shrinking. But this article seems to suggest that their numbers are growing. And some of them seem quite resolved and almost fanatical in their opposition to vaccines.

But does society have the right to force people to get vaccinated?

Do we, as citizens, have a moral and legal obligation to get ourselves and our children vaccinated if and when it is offered or recommended by a doctor?

Are parents simply being irresponsible when they refuse vaccinations for their children? Should vaccine hesitancy be considered a public health crisis?

 

[SomeRandom]

Anti Vaxxers are worse than wilfully stupid. At least with other opt outs to medicine, the consequences can either be overcome (alternatives to say blood transfusions, for example) or are restricted to whichever group refuses said treatment. So whatever, people can do what they please.

Anti vaxxers however threaten everyone around them, in particular those who literally cannot vaccinate, like cancer patients, infants, people with auto immune disorder or even people with specific allergies.
This irresponsible behaviour and wilful arrogance can even undo the vaccine if the virus is allowed to mutate through various hosts. IOW, anti vaxxers have the potential to literally render vaccines useless.
If it didn’t affect everyone, I’d say let nature wipe out those who seem eager to claim the Darwin Award.

 

[Altfish]

Society probably doesn't have the right to force people to be vaccinated BUT society can make it impossible for non-vaccinated children to (say) go to school, have a passport, join a congregation, go to scouts, join a sports club, etc., etc,.
If you make it that a vaccination certificate is needed to be part of society you at least stop innocent children coming into contact with non-vaccinated children.

 

[sun rise]

But does society have the right to force people to get vaccinated?

Yes. People have no right to put someone else's children at risk because they refuse to accept scientific fact just as people have no right to pollute my yard by their actions.

Are parents simply being irresponsible when they refuse vaccinations for their children? Should vaccine hesitancy be considered a public health crisis?

It is a public health crisis or at least turning into one as children are getting sick because of the actions of irresponsible people.

 

[Polymath257]

Your right to swing your arm stops at the other prson's face. Once their actions put *other* people in danger, society has the right to step in, probably by restricting liberties such as access to schools, but potentially to the point of arrest and imprisonment.

 

[Vinayaka]

That sense of entitlement goes too far some days. At the school I taught, we imposed a peanut ban because of a couple of children with severe allergies. Still we had parents that complained that their kids liked peanuts, and it was a gross injustice they weren't allowed their morning snack.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Society probably doesn't have the right to force people to be vaccinated BUT society can make it impossible for non-vaccinated children to (say) go to school, have a passport, join a congregation, go to scouts, join a sports club, etc., etc,.
If you make it that a vaccination certificate is needed to be part of society you at least stop innocent children coming into contact with non-vaccinated children.

Then you leave open the legal arguments of religious discrimination at least try to argue that position

 

[Altfish]

Then you leave open the legal arguments of religious discrimination at least try to argue that position

Children' health trumps religion.
Religion doesn't always get its way ... Rastafarians can't smoke cannabis in many countries and most US states
Look at this case done on religious beliefs....

“Good Christian” Parents Face 25-to-Life for Torturing Their 12 Kids

 

[Poisonshady313]

Then you leave open the legal arguments of religious discrimination at least try to argue that position

Which religion prohibits vaccination?

 

[Ellen Brown]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9d603f042d32



The article also mentions that vaccine hesitancy is growing into a global health problem.



I was actually somewhat surprised to read this, since I thought the anti-vaccination movement was actually quite small and shrinking. But this article seems to suggest that their numbers are growing. And some of them seem quite resolved and almost fanatical in their opposition to vaccines.

But does society have the right to force people to get vaccinated?

Do we, as citizens, have a moral and legal obligation to get ourselves and our children vaccinated if and when it is offered or recommended by a doctor?

Are parents simply being irresponsible when they refuse vaccinations for their children? Should vaccine hesitancy be considered a public health crisis?

There seems to be a concentrated pocket of Measles cases (60 or so) in Vancouver, Washington. Because people are so mobile, it is interesting to hear the reports of new cases in a radius around that area.

I can understand the concern about some of the solvents used in the vaccines. People are very concerned about the upsurge in Autism cases and are grasping for causations. Not having expertise in that area, I can only watch.

 

[SomeRandom]

There seems to be a concentrated pocket of Measles cases (60 or so) in Vancouver, Washington. Because people are so mobile, it is interesting to hear the reports of new cases in a radius around that area.

I can understand the concern about some of the solvents used in the vaccines. People are very concerned about the upsurge in Autism cases and are grasping for causations. Not having expertise in that area, I can only watch.

To me it’s disgusting. We aren’t vaccinating against something like the common cold, but often potentially deadly or dormant illnesses (chicken pox for example remains in the system forever, potentially causing a nasty illness known as shingles.)
So this idiotic and unscientific worrying of autism is literally saying that people would rather their child die than spend a bit of extra time dealing with autism. With very severe autism I could maybe understand, but autism is a very broad spectrum.

 

[Ellen Brown]

To me it’s disgusting. We aren’t vaccinating against something like the common cold, but often potentially deadly or dormant illnesses (chicken pox for example remains in the system forever, potentially causing a nasty illness known as shingles.)
So this idiotic and unscientific worrying of autism is literally saying that people would rather their child die than spend a bit of extra time dealing with autism. With very severe autism I could maybe understand, but autism is a very broad spectrum.

So, you have personal experience with Autism?

 

[SomeRandom]

So, you have personal experience with Autism?

Yes, yes I do. My younger cousin is on the more “severe end” of the spectrum and several of my co workers have mild autism. One has Aspergers. A niece of mine was recently diagnosed and my mother is in the disability sector. Guess what many of her clients have?
The anti vaxxers seem to think that a deadly disease is better than autism. Which is, quite frankly, appalling.

 

[Stevicus]

"Alarming" surge in measles cases in 98 countries, UNICEF says - CBS News

Worldwide, 98 countries saw more cases of measles in 2018 than in 2017, reversing progress made against the highly preventable, but potentially deadly disease.

"This is a wake up call. We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease — a vaccine that has saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades," Henrietta Fore, UNICEF's executive director, said in a statement. "These cases haven't happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow."

The disease is so contagious that 90 percent of people who are not immune will get sick if they're exposed to the virus.

One dose of the MMR vaccine — which protects against measles, mumps and rubella — is 93 percent effective, while two doses are about 97 percent effective.

However, once a person is infected, there is no specific treatment for measles, meaning vaccination is literally a life-saving tool. Serious complications can include pneumonia or brain swelling, leading to blindness or deafness, and in some cases death.

• Measles anywhere is a threat to kids everywhere

Overall vaccination rates of 90 to 95 percent are needed to provide "herd immunity," which helps keep outbreaks at bay and protect babies who are too young to be vaccinated and others who can't get the vaccine for medical reasons.

On the other hand, there is a Texas lawmaker who says he's not concerned about the measles, since (according to him) "we have antibiotics." But both articles indicate that antibiotics are ineffective against viruses.

Texas lawmaker says he’s not concerned about measles outbreak because of antibiotics

A Texas state lawmaker suggested that he is not worried about the recent outbreak of measles across the country because antibiotics can treat the virus.

Texas state Rep. Bill Zedler (R) made the comments Tuesday to the Texas Observer and said he had a case of measles when growing up, before a vaccine for it was developed.

"They want to say people are dying of measles," he told the Observer. "Yeah, in third-world countries they're dying of measles. Today, with antibiotics and that kind of stuff, they're not dying in America."

Since their invention, vaccines for measles have been largely effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates only about 2 to 5 percent of children who get the vaccine within the first 12 months contract measles.

Antibiotics, which are used to treat bacterial infections, are not effective against viruses.