Arizona grapples with measles outbreak

[darnkatz]

Of all places, it had to be a fucking children's hospital. If I were a parent of a child with cancer or serious illness, I would want to blow something up.

'Pissed off and angry': Arizona grapples with measles outbreak

Health officials monitor up to 1,000 people in Phoenix after a women infected with measles visits children's hospital
January 29, 2015
7:45AM ET


Up to 1,000 people, including almost 200 children, may have been
exposed to measles after a woman — who caught the disease from a family
that traveled to California's Disneyland amusement park where an outbreak originated last month — walked into a Phoenix children’s hospital.


The Arizona woman, whose case was confirmed Tuesday in Maricopa
County, came into contact with a Pinal County family that traveled to
Disneyland, but did not have telltale signs of measles when she visited
Phoenix Children's East Valley Center last week. There are currently
seven confirmed cases of measles in Arizona.


“Unfortunately, she came down with the disease and by the time it was
recognized had already exposed a large number of children at the
facility,” said Maricopa County health director Bob England.


Those who haven't been vaccinated are being asked to stay home for 21
days, a standard health practice, or wear masks if they have to go out
in public. Health officials will check in with the families of at-risk
children following the incubation period, which ends Feb. 11-12.


Most parents understand the importance of keeping their children home, England said.


Local father Tim Jacks was livid when he received a call from the
hospital shortly after taking his three-year-old daughter Maggie there
for lab work after her last chemotherapy session, local news website CBS 5 reported.


"There's the father in me that's just pissed off and angry and
wanting to protect my family," Jacks said. It was not possible to have
Maggie vaccinated because of her battle with leukemia, and her weak
immune system puts her at risk to many diseases. Jack's 10-month-old
son, who was too young to be vaccinated, was also possibly exposed to
measles at the hospital. Jacks said both of his children would be kept
at home for the next three weeks.


"The last thing I want to do as a father and as a pediatrician is to
spread something like this to anyone else," Jacks told CBS 5.


Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of
the people close to that person who are not vaccinated will also become
infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control.


State Health Services director Will Humble said it’s possible but
unlikely that the number of cases in Arizona will be contained at seven.


“To stay in your house for 21 days is hard,” he said. “But we need
people to follow those recommendations, because all it takes is a quick
trip to the Costco before you’re ill and, ‘bam,’ you’ve just exposed a
few hundred people. We’re at a real critical juncture with the
outbreak.”


Health officials don’t yet know how many of the children at the
hospital were vaccinated or their age ranges. Children under a year old
cannot receive the vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella but can
get an immunity booster. While the measles vaccine isn’t 100 percent
effective in stemming the spread of the disease, it does lower the
likelihood of transmission.

Health officials were working to notify the families of children who
visited the Phoenix Children’s East Valley Center from Jan. 20-21.


Phoenix Children’s spokeswoman Debra Stevens on Wednesday urged
anyone who suspects they have measles to call ahead so that staff could
take the necessary precautions to help keep measles from spreading,
including bringing masks to incoming patients.


“If someone has chosen not to vaccinate their children or for some
reason cannot vaccinate their children, they face a higher
responsibility now to let their health care provider know in advance,”
she said.


Arizona is second to California in the number of cases traced to
visits to Disneyland last month. Measles has been confirmed in five
other states — Utah, Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Nebraska — and
Mexico. Most of those infected were not vaccinated, and health officials
have urged people to get the measles shot.


The Disneyland outbreak now stands at 95 cases. Measles — the world’s
greatest vaccine-preventable killer of children — is having a mighty
comeback across the U.S., and public health experts argue that a growing anti-vaccine movement is responsible.


In the late 1950s, measles infected more than half a million
Americans a year and killed roughly 450. But since 2000, when the
infectious disease was considered eliminated, measles cases have hovered around 60 per year. 


In 2013, that number rose to 189, with the majority of cases
found among unvaccinated people. In just the first four and a half
months of 2014, there were 644 cases across 27 states.

[lg28]

Fucking anti-vaxxers.

[2curlydogs]

Jan 29, 2015 12:49:31 GMT -5 lg28 said:

Fucking anti-vaxxers.

Yup. Right here.

And - with the Super Bowl in Phoenix this weekend, what are the odds it's going to stay contained? Exposed up to 1000 people. Fuck all.

[lg28]

Jan 29, 2015 12:54:14 GMT -5 2curlydogs said:

Jan 29, 2015 12:49:31 GMT -5 lg28 said:

Fucking anti-vaxxers.

Yup. Right here.

And - with the Super Bowl in Phoenix this weekend, what are the odds it's going to stay contained? Exposed up to 1000 people. Fuck all.

Seriously.

You know, part of me is hoping to see this spread like crazy to show anti-vaxxers the seriousness of their poor choices, but I'm sure it would be innocent kids most impacted and I don't want that

[mrsukyankee]

This is seriously scary to me. Frickin' anti-vaxxers!

[Bad Dingo]

I just posted that article in response to a friend putting this on their FB page:
vaccineimpact.com/2015/arizona-cardiologist-responds-to-critics-regarding-measles-and-vaccines/

---

Why All the Anger?

by Dr. Jack Wolfson
Special to Health Impact News

I recently did an interview which was aired on NBC Phoenix. I was asked my opinion on vaccinations in response to the current measles outbreaks that have occurred at Disneyland in California. My reply has generated quite a bit of anger in thousands of people.

There has also been a tremendous amount of support to my comments and opinions. In short, The Society Against Injecting Our Kids With Chemicals (TSAIOKWC for short) has a lot of followers.

I want to address all this misguided anger and see if we can re-direct it where it belongs.

Be angry at food companies. Sugar cereals, donuts, cookies, and cupcakes lead to millions of deaths per year. At its worst, chicken pox killed 100 people per year. If those chicken pox people didn’t eat cereal and donuts, they may still be alive. Call up Nabisco and Kellogg’s and complain. Protest their products. Send THEM hate-mail.
Be angry at fast food restaurants. Tortured meat burgers, pesticide fries, and hormone milkshakes are the problem. The problem is not Hepatitis B which is a virus contracted by drug users and those who sleep with prostitutes. And you want to inject that vaccine into your newborn?

Be angry at the companies who make your toxic laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. You and your children are wearing and breathing known carcinogens (they cause cancer). Call Bounce and Downy and let them know. These products kill more people than mumps, a virus which actually doesn’t cause anyone to die. Same with hepatitis A, a watery diarrhea.

Be angry at all the companies spewing pollution into our environment. These chemicals and heavy metals are known to cause autism, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disease and every other health problem. Worldwide, these lead to 10’s of millions of deaths every year. Measles deaths are a tiny fraction compared to pollution.

Be angry at your parents for not breastfeeding you, co-sleeping with you, and stuffing your face with Domino’s so they can buy more Tide and finish the laundry. Breastfeeding protects your children from many infectious diseases.

Be angry with your doctor for being close-minded and not disclosing the ingredients in vaccines (not that they read the package insert anyway). They should tell you about the aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde, aborted fetal tissue, animal proteins, polysorbate 80, antibiotics, and other chemicals in the shots. According to the Environmental Working Group, newborns contain over 200 chemicals as detected by cord blood. Maybe your doctor feels a few more chemicals injected into your child won’t be a big deal.

Be angry with the cable companies and TV manufacturers for making you and your children fat and lazy, not wanting to exercise or play outside. Lack of exercise kills millions more than polio. Where are all those 80 year olds crippled by polio? I can’t seem to find many.
In fact, be angry with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates for creating computers so you can sit around all day blasted with electromagnetic radiation reading posts like this.

Be angry with pharmaceutical companies for allowing us to believe living the above life can be treated with drugs. Correctly prescribed drugs kill thousands of people per year. The flu kills just about no one. The vaccine never works.

Finally, be angry with yourself for not opening your eyes to the snow job and brainwashing which have taken over your mind. You NEVER asked the doctor any questions. You NEVER asked what is in the vaccines. You NEVER learned about these benign infections.

Let’s face it, you don’t really give a crap what your children eat. You don’t care about chemicals in their life. You don’t care if they sit around all day watching the TV or playing video games.

All you care about is drinking your Starbuck’s, your next plastic surgery, your next cocktail, your next affair, and your next sugar fix!

This post was created with love and with the idea of creating a better world for our children and future generations. Anger increases your risk of suffering a heart attack. Be careful

---

One of the responses on friend's page:
"I 100% agree! People shouldn't just blindly attack people who are educating themselves and making conscious choices for their children while they sip their Mountain Dew Voltage and stir their Kraft Mac and Cheese.  This Dr makes some very interesting points, putting the matter in a different perspective."

---

(Friend if you are lurking, I love you dearly but you have gone off the deep end).

Also, Kraft Mac n Cheese is fucking amazing.

[heyjude]

This just happened in Fresno Ca. A man with measles visited a L&D.

Fuuuuuck.

[eponinepontmercy]

Jan 29, 2015 13:47:03 GMT -5 heyjude said:

This just happened in Fresno Ca. A man with measles visited a L&D.

Fuuuuuck.

And a Build-a-Bear and the Disney Store.   He must have been trying to get people, specifically children, sick. There aren't even words for the anger I feel about this whole thing. 

[chedifuen]

My city counsel man just posted then AZ cardiologist bullshit. Needless to say, he's lost my vote.

[darnkatz]

Jan 29, 2015 13:51:28 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

Jan 29, 2015 13:47:03 GMT -5 heyjude said:

This just happened in Fresno Ca. A man with measles visited a L&D.

Fuuuuuck.

And a Build-a-Bear and the Disney Store.   He must have been trying to get people, specifically children, sick. There aren't even words for the anger I feel about this whole thing. 

I mean, he really should go to jail if he did this on purpose. WTAF.

[heyjude]

I doubt he was trying to get people sick. You are contagious before you have symptoms. We can still be fucking mad though. There is plenty of people to be mad at here.

Fucking anti Vax parents.

[orangeblossom]

The cardiologist response is maddening, but more than that, frightening. Can you imagine the stuff he's spewing to his patients. Ugh.

[sangria]

I'm still trying to figure what this woman was doing at the children's hospital- it says she wasn't an employee.

[meshaliuknits]

Jan 29, 2015 13:47:03 GMT -5 heyjude said:

This just happened in Fresno Ca. A man with measles visited a L&D.

Fuuuuuck.

Did he know he had measles? If he did he needs to get his ass beat.

[badgergrl]

I hope disney starts requiring immunization records to get in. This is fucking ridiculous.

[sangria]

And to that fucking windbag dumbass cardiologist piece my response is simply-

That's a lot of things to be angry and worried about. Too bad we had measles off the list until the supremely stupid antivax morons brought it back.

[starlily]

Jan 29, 2015 13:59:36 GMT -5 orangeblossom said:

The cardiologist response is maddening, but more than that, frightening. Can you imagine the stuff he's spewing to his patients. Ugh.

Dr. Jack Wolfson, who spreads lies and misinformation, should lose his license.

[downtoearth]

A cardiologist wrote that response?!  Where does he work that he's only seeing the plastic-surgery, a-holes of the US?  Maybe he's describing his own suburb, but not mine.

All you care about is drinking your Starbuck’s, your next plastic surgery, your next cocktail, your next affair, and your next sugar fix!

I just can't get piping mad about this, more just sad.  I really hope nobody dies - immunized or not. I want our medical community to prevail and kick this (rapidly escalating) measles outbreak back into submission.  But I think that is going to take a lot of work - especially since the measles virus can live on surfaces for up to 2 hours after someone sneezes or coughs and up to 30-minutes 8 hours just hanging in the air.

However, I heard this stat and it seemed promising - 

"The measles outbreak comes after years of increases in the number of parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated. In California, the rate of kindergarten parents choosing the "personal belief exemption" to refuse vaccines doubled from 2007 to 2013. While the statewide rate of personal belief exemptions reached 3.15 percent, geographic clusters had significantly higher opt-out rates.

But that steady increase in vaccine refusals was halted with the current school year — likely due to a new California state law. This school year is the first when parents who chose to opt out needed to meet first with a health care provider to discuss vaccines and vaccine preventable illnesses. The goal is to dispel misinformation and fear of vaccines. The opt-out rate dropped from 3.15 to 2.54 percent, nearly a 20 percent decrease."

So even if we have a decade of higher rate unvaccinated older kids, its going down now - at least in CA.

ETA: I corrected according to stats from - mcsangel2.

[thecatinthehat]

Jan 29, 2015 13:40:28 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

I just posted that article in response to a friend putting this on their FB page:
vaccineimpact.com/2015/arizona-cardiologist-responds-to-critics-regarding-measles-and-vaccines/

---

Why All the Anger?

by Dr. Jack Wolfson
Special to Health Impact News

I recently did an interview which was aired on NBC Phoenix. I was asked my opinion on vaccinations in response to the current measles outbreaks that have occurred at Disneyland in California. My reply has generated quite a bit of anger in thousands of people.

There has also been a tremendous amount of support to my comments and opinions. In short, The Society Against Injecting Our Kids With Chemicals (TSAIOKWC for short) has a lot of followers.

I want to address all this misguided anger and see if we can re-direct it where it belongs.

Be angry at food companies. Sugar cereals, donuts, cookies, and cupcakes lead to millions of deaths per year. At its worst, chicken pox killed 100 people per year. If those chicken pox people didn’t eat cereal and donuts, they may still be alive. Call up Nabisco and Kellogg’s and complain. Protest their products. Send THEM hate-mail.
Be angry at fast food restaurants. Tortured meat burgers, pesticide fries, and hormone milkshakes are the problem. The problem is not Hepatitis B which is a virus contracted by drug users and those who sleep with prostitutes. And you want to inject that vaccine into your newborn?

Be angry at the companies who make your toxic laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. You and your children are wearing and breathing known carcinogens (they cause cancer). Call Bounce and Downy and let them know. These products kill more people than mumps, a virus which actually doesn’t cause anyone to die. Same with hepatitis A, a watery diarrhea.

Be angry at all the companies spewing pollution into our environment. These chemicals and heavy metals are known to cause autism, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disease and every other health problem. Worldwide, these lead to 10’s of millions of deaths every year. Measles deaths are a tiny fraction compared to pollution.

Be angry at your parents for not breastfeeding you, co-sleeping with you, and stuffing your face with Domino’s so they can buy more Tide and finish the laundry. Breastfeeding protects your children from many infectious diseases.

Be angry with your doctor for being close-minded and not disclosing the ingredients in vaccines (not that they read the package insert anyway). They should tell you about the aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde, aborted fetal tissue, animal proteins, polysorbate 80, antibiotics, and other chemicals in the shots. According to the Environmental Working Group, newborns contain over 200 chemicals as detected by cord blood. Maybe your doctor feels a few more chemicals injected into your child won’t be a big deal.

Be angry with the cable companies and TV manufacturers for making you and your children fat and lazy, not wanting to exercise or play outside. Lack of exercise kills millions more than polio. Where are all those 80 year olds crippled by polio? I can’t seem to find many.
In fact, be angry with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates for creating computers so you can sit around all day blasted with electromagnetic radiation reading posts like this.

Be angry with pharmaceutical companies for allowing us to believe living the above life can be treated with drugs. Correctly prescribed drugs kill thousands of people per year. The flu kills just about no one. The vaccine never works.

Finally, be angry with yourself for not opening your eyes to the snow job and brainwashing which have taken over your mind. You NEVER asked the doctor any questions. You NEVER asked what is in the vaccines. You NEVER learned about these benign infections.

Let’s face it, you don’t really give a crap what your children eat. You don’t care about chemicals in their life. You don’t care if they sit around all day watching the TV or playing video games.

All you care about is drinking your Starbuck’s, your next plastic surgery, your next cocktail, your next affair, and your next sugar fix!

This post was created with love and with the idea of creating a better world for our children and future generations. Anger increases your risk of suffering a heart attack. Be careful

---

One of the responses on friend's page:
"I 100% agree! People shouldn't just blindly attack people who are educating themselves and making conscious choices for their children while they sip their Mountain Dew Voltage and stir their Kraft Mac and Cheese.  This Dr makes some very interesting points, putting the matter in a different perspective."

---

(Friend if you are lurking, I love you dearly but you have gone off the deep end).

Also, Kraft Mac n Cheese is fucking amazing.

So doctors who are pro vax do not read? This jerk is ann asshole and if should start suing people for getting other poeple sick it should be medical professional who spread irresponsible information. Ugh I am so fucking mad at this whole measles outbreak and the stupid antivaxers.

[mcsangel2]

Jan 29, 2015 14:29:27 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

A cardiologist wrote that response?!  Where does he work that he's only seeing the plastic-surgery, a-holes of the US?  Maybe he's describing his own suburb, but not mine.

All you care about is drinking your Starbuck’s, your next plastic surgery, your next cocktail, your next affair, and your next sugar fix!

I just can't get piping mad about this, more just sad.  I really hope nobody dies - immunized or not. I want our medical community to prevail and kick this (rapidly escalating) measles outbreak back into submission.  But I think that is going to take a lot of work - especially since the measles virus can live on surfaces for up to 2 hours after someone sneezes or coughs and up to 30-minutes just hanging in the air.

However, I heard this stat and it seemed promising - 

"The measles outbreak comes after years of increases in the number of parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated. In California, the rate of kindergarten parents choosing the "personal belief exemption" to refuse vaccines doubled from 2007 to 2013. While the statewide rate of personal belief exemptions reached 3.15 percent, geographic clusters had significantly higher opt-out rates.

But that steady increase in vaccine refusals was halted with the current school year — likely due to a new California state law. This school year is the first when parents who chose to opt out needed to meet first with a health care provider to discuss vaccines and vaccine preventable illnesses. The goal is to dispel misinformation and fear of vaccines. The opt-out rate dropped from 3.15 to 2.54 percent, nearly a 20 percent decrease."

So even if we have a decade of higher rate unvaccinated older kids, its going down now - at least in CA.

No. It can stay in the air for up to eight hours. Even if the sick person isn't there anymore. Even if the sick person hasn't started showing symptoms yet. This is why measles is the most contagious disease in the world.

[usuallylurking]

Jan 29, 2015 14:11:52 GMT -5 sangria said:

And to that fucking windbag dumbass cardiologist piece my response is simply-

That's a lot of things to be angry and worried about. Too bad we had measles off the list until the supremely stupid antivax morons brought it back.

This is all so infuriating. I had an anti-vaxxer on facebook post the cardiologist piece this morning and simply captioned it with "Yep." I may borrow your response

I've also had an anti-vaxxer say that the measles strain isn't the one that we vaccinate for. Does anybody know anything about this? They posted a source, but it was basically a bunch of jibberish to me.

[One Girl In All The World]

I only scanned the cardiologist thing at first, and thought it was satirical. WTF WTF WTF

[mominatrix]

Megan ain't askeered

www.livingwhole.org/this-mama-isnt-scared-of-the-shmeasle-measles/



Megan Heimer, who compromises public health, that is.

[downtoearth]

Jan 29, 2015 14:43:39 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Jan 29, 2015 14:11:52 GMT -5 sangria said:

And to that fucking windbag dumbass cardiologist piece my response is simply-

That's a lot of things to be angry and worried about. Too bad we had measles off the list until the supremely stupid antivax morons brought it back.

This is all so infuriating. I had an anti-vaxxer on facebook post the cardiologist piece this morning and simply captioned it with "Yep." I may borrow your response

I've also had an anti-vaxxer say that the measles strain isn't the one that we vaccinate for. Does anybody know anything about this? They posted a source, but it was basically a bunch of jibberish to me.

I'm not 100% sure, but yes, the measles from the Disney outbreak is part of the "strain" that the MMR does cover. There are really only two types of measles generally: rubella and rubeola (which I personally wish was ru-Ebola just for scare tactics ). The MMR covers both of those. I don't think it has mutated enough that the MMR doesn't cover that. But if you look at the stats, more vaccinated people were exposed than unvaccinated, so there are more people who were vaccinated who ended up with cases of measles, but it is more harmful to those who are unvaccinated.  Plus, I think the MMR is like 98-99% effective after 2 doses, so there could be 1-2% of vaccinated people who aren't well protected.  I read a Forbes or Time article that talked about the stats of exposure. I'll go looking for that.

[usuallylurking]

This is what an anti-vaxxer on my FB says. Is this true? Does anybody know? I am 100% pro-vaccine, but I don't understand the source they cite.


"Of the 500 documented measles cases tested in the United States ZERO have been of the A strain. The A strain is the only strain with a vaccine and ZERO A strain measles cases have been documented in the United States in at least 5 years."
Their source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/?term=%28Measles+USA%29+AND+%22Measles+virus%22%5Bporgn%3A__txid11234%5D

"A*, B2, B3, C2, C3, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, G2, G3, H1, H2 these are all the measles strains that have been identified since 1990. That little * there is the only strain of measles that currently has a vaccine."
Their source: www.cdc.gov/measles/lab-tools/genetic-analysis.html
Their friend replied "Wait! You're telling me all those people at Disney aren't my fault after all?! It just can't be!"
And they replied "Well unless information like this gets shared then no it will still be our "fault" even though we are not the cause"

[2curlydogs]

God. Can we just round up every last one of these fuckers and drop them on a deserted island somewhere?

[usuallylurking]

Jan 29, 2015 14:58:09 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Jan 29, 2015 14:43:39 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

This is all so infuriating. I had an anti-vaxxer on facebook post the cardiologist piece this morning and simply captioned it with "Yep." I may borrow your response

I've also had an anti-vaxxer say that the measles strain isn't the one that we vaccinate for. Does anybody know anything about this? They posted a source, but it was basically a bunch of jibberish to me.

I'm not 100% sure, but yes, the measles from the Disney outbreak is part of the "strain" that the MMR does cover. There are really only two types of measles generally: rubella and rubeola (which I personally wish was ru-Ebola just for scare tactics ). The MMR covers both of those. I don't think it has mutated enough that the MMR doesn't cover that. But if you look at the stats, more vaccinated people were exposed than unvaccinated, so there are more people who were vaccinated who ended up with cases of measles, but it is more harmful to those who are unvaccinated.  Plus, I think the MMR is like 98% effective after 2 doses, so there could be 2% of vaccinated people who aren't well protected.  I read a Forbes or Time article that talked about the stats of exposure. I'll go looking for that.

Thanks! I just posted what they have posted in the past week or so. They drive me crazy.

[msmerymac]

My anti-vax friend on FB has been remarkably silent lately...

[marriedfilingjoint]

Isn't getting vaccination advice from a cardiologist about the same as having a poedistrist give you a heart transplant? Is he even qualified to make statements like that?

[picksthemusic]

The article that Bad Dingo posted makes me RAGE. RAAAAAAAAAAAGE.

This is the kind of shit my SIL reads and believes and won't be swayed otherwise.

Pull your heads out of your asses, anti-vaxxers. Vaccines save lives. End of story.