How To Bring Back Deadly Diseases
UCLA med school prof Nina Shapiro writes in the LA Times that anti-vaxxers who lead people to leave their children unvaccinated may be making schools unsafe. She'd like to see all schools declared "unvaccinated-free zones":
The law in California mandates that students in public and private schools be immunized, but it also allows easy-to-get exemptions for personal beliefs.Although some 90% of the state's kindergartners are up to date on their immunizations, it is not uncommon for individual public elementary schools to report that more than one-third of their kindergartners are not.
And if you're thinking this must be a problem unique to schools in low-income neighborhoods, think again. One of Malibu's three elementary schools reported that just 58% of its kindergartners were up to date on their vaccinations, and some other affluent areas throughout the state have schools with similar compliance rates.
Private schools vary widely, but some have rates of less than 20%. Yes, that's right: Parents are willingly paying up to $25,000 a year to schools at which fewer than 1 in 5 kindergartners has been immunized against the pathogens causing such life-threatening illnesses as measles, polio, meningitis and pertussis (more commonly known as whooping cough). In order for a school to be considered truly immunized, from a public health standpoint, its immunization rate needs to be 90% or higher.
Parents have varied reasons for choosing not to immunize their children. Some are concerned that vaccinations raise the risk of autism, although study after study has debunked this myth. Others, concerned that small bodies can't tolerate so many vaccines at once, have decided to spread out the schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though there is little evidence to support this practice. Some parents think that because some of the illnesses for which kids get immunized are extremely rare these days, there's little reason to vaccinate.
But here's the reality: These diseases do exist, and we're already seeing some of them make a comeback.
Pertussis is one of them. Children have died from a disease -- whooping cough -- that was pretty much eradicated once the vaccine became available.
If you don't want to vaccinate your kids, be sure you home school them and see that they're never around any other kids.
(On a related note, Jenny McCarthy has probably been responsible for the illness or death of more children than some serial killers.)
Find the vaccination rate at your kid's California school.
From the article: "Some parents think that because some of the illnesses for which kids get immunized are extremely rare these days, there's little reason to vaccinate."
It seems some people don't realize the reason for some of these illnesses to be rare is precisely because children are being immunized by vaccinations!
jeez, it seems for some parents, their own education has failed them.
Charles at August 10, 2013 7:58 AM
As callous as this might sound, do we really want people who take medical advice from Jenny McCarthy in the gene pool? Reproducing, no less?
Just what the world needs, more conspiracy theorist mentality.
Patrick at August 10, 2013 8:31 AM
The comment about "thinking this must be a problem unique to schools in low-income neighborhoods" also has one other flaw, at least in my area: vaccines are free for many low income children. I would venture that the most common reason for not vaccinating a low income child here would be a lack of transportation. I don't have a study on the link between lack of transportation and vaccines, but I did read one on well-child MD visits, and vaccines typically fall into that category.
As for the CDC recommendations, I do have one major quibble. Why vaccinate infants against Hep B? It's transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids, and the vaccine series needs to be repeated in 10 years. I have some faith that my parenting skills aren't so poor that my future children will be sexually active or sharing needles at the age of 10, so I would probably decline that series (and only that series) until they are older.
That said, I always found it interesting that parents who don't vaccinate their children are riding the coattails of herd immunity. The only thing that makes going without vaccines "safe" is the fact that most other parents weren't so opposed to the very same vaccines.
Kelli at August 10, 2013 8:42 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/08/10/how_to_bring_ba.html#comment-3846640">comment from PatrickAs callous as this might sound, do we really want people who take medical advice from Jenny McCarthy in the gene pool?
Humans have many cognitive biases -- which isn't to forgive this jerk.
Also, unvaccinated kids destroy herd immunity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity
Amy Alkon at August 10, 2013 8:45 AM
"The toll of pertussis before vaccines was staggering. For example, from 1926 to 1930, there were 36,013 pertussis-related deaths in the United States"
http://forms.asm.org/microbe/index.asp?bid=48816
These were slow & agonizing deaths, and almost all the dead were kids.
Martin at August 10, 2013 9:02 AM
Some people have religious objections. Christian Scientists are exempt from vaccinating their children.
Patrick at August 10, 2013 9:07 AM
Exempting a small group due to religious objections (such as Christian Scientists) or those with allergies to the vaccine uses the concept of "herd immunity." If all the other kids are vaccinated, then the likelihood the small number of unvaccinated children will encounter or be able to spread the disease is lower.
The unvaccinated kids are still at risk, but the herd faces less risk.
When most of the other kids are not vaccinated, it only takes one to start an epidemic.
Sex is not the only way children can come into contract with blood and other bodily fluids. Don't know which bodily fluids can transmit Hep B, but if the list includes sweat or saliva, then an unvaccinated kid could still be at risk.
Conan the Grammarian at August 10, 2013 9:33 AM
If an unvaccinated kid catches a disease, the only ones (s)he endangers are other unvaccinated kids, whose parents chose to accept that risk. One could argue that refusal to vaccinate constitutes child abuse, but why is it a public health problem?
Rex Little at August 10, 2013 9:56 AM
One side thing usually not talked about but is a major part of bringing back deadly diseases, is illegal immigration.
Im some ways the immunization policies in Central America has more effect on the health of US kids than US immunization policy.
Joe J at August 10, 2013 10:04 AM
Remember Christian Scientists, if you get whooping cough, just don't give it a name!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mtzEkD0uZ4&feature=player_detailpage&t=1325
Eric at August 10, 2013 10:13 AM
If an unvaccinated kid catches a disease, the only ones (s)he endangers are other unvaccinated kids, whose parents chose to accept that risk. One could argue that refusal to vaccinate constitutes child abuse, but why is it a public health problem?
Posted by: Rex Little at August 10, 2013 9:56 AM
The reason it is a public health problem, is because what you have posted above isnt true.
Vaccines do not have a 100 percent effective rate. Actual rate of protection for most of them is about 70 to 80 percent, and a lot of them lose their effectiveness over time.
This is a math game, a hundred percent vaccination drastically lowers the probability that an epidemic will start and spread through the unvaccinated population, and the vaccinated, but not fully protected.
This is the public health issue. While extra large sodas, clearly are not.
Isab at August 10, 2013 10:53 AM
Makes sense, Isab. I retract my previous statement.
However, this:
Jenny McCarthy has probably been responsible for the illness or death of more children than some serial killers.
I can't agree with. Anyone who listens to Jenny McCarthy on a medical issue has only themselves to blame. I mean, c'mon, Jenny McCarthy? She's not a doctor, she doesn't play one on TV, and the last character she did play on TV (Courtney on Two and a Half Men) was a con artist.
With a serial killer, on the other hand, it doesn't usually matter if you listen to him or not.
Rex Little at August 10, 2013 11:10 AM
Well Rex, i tend to agree in theory. And there is a strong first amendment argument to let her say what she wishes.
However, tha autism scare, has been aided and abetted by the government and government officials.
The government went down the slipperly slope a long time ago, when it started allowing religious exemptions for vaccination.
Most people, even college graduates, do a poor job of analyzing risk. Even most doctors are poor, at the math required to do it accurately.
You should not be eligible for public schools, or any government benefits period, if you dont vaccinate your children.
You have to make people pay for panicky mob behavior, or else, you will get more of it.
My father's cousin lost three children to polio in 1949 within the space of two weeks. Experience is a harsh teacher, but a fool will learn from no other.
As Joe pointed out, there are a lot of public health issues attached to illegal immigration. Another good reason to secure the borders.
Isab at August 10, 2013 11:28 AM
One could argue that refusal to vaccinate constitutes child abuse, but why is it a public health problem?
Posted by: Rex Little
In addition to Iasb's analysis there is also the greater chance that in an epidemic situation a given illness can mutate into a more virulent form that current vaccines do not protect against leading to an even larger and deadlier epidemic
lujlp at August 10, 2013 11:51 AM
I feel compelled to add my usual message.
I had a disease that doctors don't know the cause of, and last time I checked, the CDC still attributes at least in part to vaccines, such that the CDC tells doctors not to give me vaccines.
That's the Center for Disease Control saying that, not Jenny McCarthy.
I am not against vaccines. I am very much in favor of informed consent.
While it is wrong to believe the flu vaccine causes autism, it is not wrong to understand that vaccines are products, manufactured by companies, led by people with all the good and bad that any product is.
Some products have good testing, some have bad testing.
Some products have managers interested in the best value for their customers, some products have managers interested in maximizing profit above all else.
Not every Toyota that rolls off the line is of the same quality as the one before. Don't buy cars made on Mondays.
Some vaccines have much better testing regimes than others, some vaccines have long track records, while others are brand new.
Shipping can heat damage vaccines. Doctors or schools or school nurses can store them improperly.
Vaccines are recalled because of manufacturing problems. Contamination. Bad ingredients.
Vaccines are recalled or taken off the market because doctors and scientists have linked them to other, possibly worse conditions.
Just because Group B wants to make a vaccine mandatory may not mean there is a medical reason for doing so. Governor Perry wanted to make Gardasil mandatory mainly to enrich his friends even though doctors involved with testing gardasil at that time thought it was inappropriate at that time. Feminists jumped in and tried to shame the US into making Gardasil mandatory or else... you hate women.
Because of all of that, I think parents need to talk to doctors and do a bit of internet research and figure out for themselves before deciding which vaccines to apply to their kids.
Herd immunity is a real thing, but herd immunity should not be used to bully people. I rely on you and your kids being immunized, but since the CDC thinks I may have been injured by vaccines, I would never tell you you must get vaccinated to protect me. I think you should figure it out for yourself.
States usually have three ways to opt out of vaccines - medical reasons, religious reasons, and philosophical reasons, but not all states offer all three, and in some states if a person the state considers to be a leader of your religion says a vaccine is okay, the state will come in and challenge you, even if your local leader says a vaccine is not okay. And many states do not have philosophical opt out. And many states are trying to restrict or remove these opt outs.
And just as herd immunity is a thing, so is regulatory capture.
So I am all for outreach, education, and making vaccines easily available and cost affordable, but I am mostly against mandatory opt-in except for what were the "traditional" categories:
Diseases that could cause death so swiftly a doctor might not be able to diagnose and treat in time.
Diseases that were so communicable they could threaten the school and surrounding population with epidemic.
Diseases that threatened the lives and health of pregnant women and their babies.
jerry at August 10, 2013 12:59 PM
AAAAAAAACCCKKK! Ok:
Rex Little: people who have been vaccinated CAN still get a disease sometimes if they are exposed (by, you know, someone unvaccinated). Not every vaccine protects every person 100%, which is a HUGE reason for anyone medically able to be vaccinated to get it done. The unvaccinated also give it a great home in which to mutate a little. The less of a foothold the disease has, the less likely anyone-vaccinated or not-will be exposed to it.
Hep A,B, and C can live on surfaces for DAYS, people. Sex and needles are not the only way to get it. Most common maybe, but not only!
My kids all got a trip to the hospital a few years ago for pertussis, even though they'd been vaccinated. It was an epidemic here in Austin because of all the crunchy granola asshats that don't vaccinate. See also: Boulder Colorado.
I don't think the government should be able to force you to vaccinate. But I DO think it should be required for any government services, schools included, unless you have proof from a Dr it's medically contraindicated in your case.
momof4 at August 10, 2013 1:47 PM
Among my (somewhat diverse) Facebook feed, the prominent antivaxxers are a) alt-health types (my yoga teacher and a friend who works for a chiropracter) and b) John Birth Society types (my old boyfriend).
Then there are the many confused and doubting parents, for whom the above and Jenny McCarthy must shoulder some blame.
Astra at August 10, 2013 2:14 PM
You should not be eligible for public schools. . . if you dont vaccinate your children.
That rule would have a very nice side effect: it would drive some people out of public schools and into homeschooling. The benefit of that might just be worth the cost to herd immunity of non-vaccination.
Rex Little at August 10, 2013 4:20 PM
That rule would have a very nice side effect: it would drive some people out of public schools and into homeschooling. The benefit of that might just be worth the cost to herd immunity of non-vaccination.
Posted by: Rex Little at August 10, 2013 4:20 PM
Most intellgent people have already removed their kids from the public schools.
The public schools are doing a bang up job of driving people away.
When I was a kid, they vaccinated in the schools, and gave the polio booters too.
Isab at August 10, 2013 6:43 PM
God is pro-life. Why the heck wouldn't He want kids to be vaccinated?
mpetrie98 at August 10, 2013 7:45 PM
In my admittedly limited experience, most low-income parents want all the vaccines for their kids that they can obtain. It's higher-income parents who consider their offspring magically immune to the vagaries of life. But YMMV.
As callous as this might sound, do we really want people who take medical advice from Jenny McCarthy in the gene pool? Reproducing, no less?
Well, in addition to the whole "destroying herd immunity" bit, there's the fact that babies aren't vaccinated against everything immediately. I've known a couple of tiny babies who nearly died from whooping cough who hadn't reached the pertussis vaccination stage. There's a reason that, once my early arrivals got home from the NICU, I didn't leave the house with my babies for a few months...but I was able to take a long maternity leave rather than putting my kids into daycare at three months. Not everyone is able to do the same. I breathed an enormous sigh of relief the day that my kids received the first pertussis shot (especially given that we're not all that far away from Austin, home of the whooping cough resurgence that hit poor momof4's family) and the MMR.
marion at August 10, 2013 9:39 PM
Great. A teacher at my daughter's school was just charged with sexual assault on a student. Now I have to ask them about vaccination rates, too.
Sosij at August 10, 2013 11:50 PM
"God is pro-life. Why the heck wouldn't He want kids to be vaccinated?"
If you're the religious type, it logically follows that He also came up with the diseases that you're saying he supports vaccinating against.
Also, He came up with these diseases to wipe out the genetically weak, to ensure herd survival.
Therefore, your argument is invalid.
wtf at August 11, 2013 8:12 AM
Actually, wtf, I suggest this approach...
"God is pro-life... but not pro-YOUR life. Being on top of the food chain doesn't make you inedible. Act accordingly."
Radwaste at August 11, 2013 9:25 AM
Heidi Fleiss' father is a pediatrician/drug addict who tells his patients that it was okay not to vaccinate. Shows to go ya, doesn't it?
http://www.yelp.com/biz/paul-fleiss-md-los-angeles
KateC at August 11, 2013 10:54 AM
Here is what the anti-vaxers must claim as their own.
And as a little googling will show, it isn't just measles, either.
Jeff Guinn at August 11, 2013 3:25 PM
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