Slashdot Mirror
State of Emergency Declared in Washington State Over Measles Outbreak (cbsnews.com)
An anonymous reader quotes CBS News:
The governor of Washington state declared a state of emergency Friday over a measles outbreak that has sickened dozens of people in a county with one of the state's lowest vaccination rates. Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement that the outbreak in Clark County "creates an extreme public health risk" that could spread throughout the state...
Clark County Public Health has confirmed 30 measles cases since January 1 and identified another nine suspected cases. Twenty-six of the confirmed cases were people who were not immunized for measles, the agency said... Only 77.4 percent of all public students there complete their vaccinations, according to state records cited by the Oregonian...Most of the confirmed cases -- 21 -- were with children between 1 and 10 years old. Eight cases involved people 11 to 18 years old, and one case was someone 19 to 29.
Time magazines also reports that authorities in the neighboring states of Oregon and Idaho "have issued warnings to residents."
In November the World Health Organization warned that measles cases worldwide had jumped more than 30% from 2016 to 2017, according to AFP, "in part because of children not being vaccinated."
Clark County Public Health has confirmed 30 measles cases since January 1 and identified another nine suspected cases. Twenty-six of the confirmed cases were people who were not immunized for measles, the agency said... Only 77.4 percent of all public students there complete their vaccinations, according to state records cited by the Oregonian...Most of the confirmed cases -- 21 -- were with children between 1 and 10 years old. Eight cases involved people 11 to 18 years old, and one case was someone 19 to 29.
Time magazines also reports that authorities in the neighboring states of Oregon and Idaho "have issued warnings to residents."
In November the World Health Organization warned that measles cases worldwide had jumped more than 30% from 2016 to 2017, according to AFP, "in part because of children not being vaccinated."
What could possibly go wrong?
It would be a good beginning.
The bitch has thousands on her conscience.
30 cases in 26 days in a State of 7.4 million people is a state of emergency?
Exactly. It would make so much more sense to wait, and let the situation spiral out of control before acting.
This outbreak is happening in liberal suburbs of Portland.
Anti-vaxxers do not follow the normal pattern of political polarization. Instead, it is common among extremists in either direction. Left-wing anti-vaxxers believe vaccinations are a corporate conspiracy. Right-wing anti-vaxxers believe vaccinations are a government conspiracy. Moderates on both sides vaccinate their kids.
I just want to ignore the whole thing. If someone who chose not to get vaccinated gets sick, just give them some healing crystals and leave them alone.
But unfortunately, not everyone who gets sick will be by choice. The vaccines aren't 100%, so some people may get sick even with immunization. Some infants are too young to get vaccinated, and they can easily die if they get sick. Some people have medical conditions that prevent immunization, and they are also at serious risk.
So much as I would like to ignore the sick and tell them "I told you so," we just can't do that. Also, it's not fair to not take care of kids just because their parents are stupid.
It's time to say get a vaccine or don't go to public schools. The only exceptions should be kids with compromised immune systems that can't be vaccinated. If parents don't like it, they can save the schools money and homeschool.
Americans have it easy today. Women don't die in child birth in any significant numbers. You don't need to have 6 babies to see 3 reach thier teenage years. Almost no one gets horrible diseases that kill, cripple, disfigure, and often cause unending pain for the remainder of your life. When every person either had family or friends that they watched contract horrible diseases like polio, they were scared shitless of suffering the same fate. When the first vaccines came out, people lined up around the block and people fought shortages to keep up with demand. It was hailed as a miracle, and people couldn't believe they might finally be free of these unimaginable afflictions plaguing humanity.
Nowadays, with vaccinations keeping these diseases under control, very few have had a family member who has been crippled, had a lifelong friend die, or even seen the afflicted in person. They lack the imagination necessary to place themselves in this world lost to medical progress and have become complacent, ignorant, and lazy with regard to the seriousness of the situation. It's absolutely disgusting.