Measles Outbreak Widens in Minnesota
Epicenter is state’s Somali community, fearing vaccination-related autism. Meanwhile, European cases surging among unvaccinated adults.
A measles outbreak in Minnesota is widening as the state’s public health and emergency preparedness officials scramble to stop the spread.
As of Thursday afternoon, April 27, the Minnesota Department of Health had confirmed 28 cases in Hennepin County and one in Stearns County. All were among children under age 5, most of them unvaccinated.
“Measles is very contagious and can spread very quickly,” said Denise Kragenbring, public health supervisor with Kandiyohi County Public Health.
…Because measles spreads easily among unvaccinated populations, it’s especially important to be adequately protected during outbreaks, local health officials said.
It appears that one of those unvaccinated populations are the Somali immigrants, who have not vaccinated their infants or toddlers. In part, they are afraid of the rumored connection to autism.
Fears of the MMR vaccine have taken hold within the Somali community, particularly after 2008, when many parents became concerned about what seemed to be a cluster of autism cases among Somali students in the Minneapolis schools. Measles vaccination rates among young Somali children have fallen sharply since, providing fertile ground for an outbreak to develop.
On Friday, health officials reported three new measles cases, bringing the total to 32 and marking the outbreak’s spread from Hennepin and Stearns County to Ramsey County. Officials are still trying to identify the source, but believe it was imported by a traveler from a foreign country, since measles no longer occurs naturally in the United States.
Though health officials are heavily promoting the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine, it is being reported that one of the stricken had been vaccinated.
The U.S. isn’t the only region reporting measles outbreaks. Gaps in vaccination coverage has also led to a surge in European incidents of this infectious disease in the past few months.
During the first two months of 2017, more than 1,500 measles cases were reported from 14 European countries due to “an accumulation of unvaccinated individuals”, said officials from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
In 10 countries — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden — the number of cases reported in January-February 2017 was more than double that of the first two months of 2016.
The reports from Italy are especially troubling. The rate of reported infections has substantially increased, and young adults are the ones who have been most impacted.
The concern is such that American health officials have issued enhanced travel recommendations.
This year, the country has reported 1603 measles cases (through April 16th) according to the Ministero della Salute. To put into perspective how above average that number is – there were 840 cases in all of 2016 and 250 in 2015.
Most cases have occurred in people older than 15 (the median age is 27 for people affected.) It is hypothesized that the effects of people not vaccinating their babies 20 years ago are now coming to light in these adults who are susceptible to measles.
Italy is a hot destination for travelers, especially in the summer months. The county is the fifth most visited country for international arrivals—about 50 million tourists annually. Roughly 10 percent of those tourists arrive from the United States (~4.5 million.)
Because of this, the United Stated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has new recommendations regarding measles vaccinations for anyone traveling to Italy – adults and children. The bottom line is that everyone traveling to Italy needs to make sure that their immunizations are up to date.
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As usual, we will pay the bill out of our pockets for their treatment. We get screwed as always. This will cost millions, perhaps even a billion before they are “cured” enough to spread some more filth and disease.
Obastard should pay their bills out of his speaking engagement fees. He brought these backward savages here.
So, Obamacare was needed not only as compensation for anti-capitalist, liberal fiscal policies (e.g. monopolies and practices), but also in preparation for the cover-up of collateral damage forced by social justice adventurism in second and third-world nations. Planned… something.
We eradicate a disease in this country and, through complacency or fear, we stop immunizing our young against it. As a result, when that disease is accidentally imported from elsewhere it finds fertile ground in which to spread.
I’m not sure what, if anything, we can do about the complacency but we all owe a big, albeit sarcastic, thanks to Jenny McCarthy for being a primary driver behind the fear. How many children have been negatively impacted as a result of her fear-mongering?
None, or few, until elective regime and [class] diversity forced a catastrophic anthropogenic climate change causing, among other things, a medical crisis.
Correction – not “accidentally”…….
Planned on purpose by Obama and herds…..
More hysteria over nothing.
Measles is a normal, childhood disease which usually only results in death IF the patient has some serious underlying preexisting health problem. The mortality rate for measles, in the US, plummeted in the 1930s to near zero, as medical care became better and more readily available. It was at almost zero when the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963. From 2004 through 2015, there have been no reported deaths due to measles, in the US. However, in that same period, there have been 108 deaths attributed to measles vaccine with the MMR vaccine accounting for 96 of those deaths. [ http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/zero-u-s-measles-deaths-in-10-years-but-over-100-measles-vaccine-deaths-reported/ ].
Additionally, as has been learned in the last few measles outbreaks, vaccinated individuals are also contracting the disease. Often these individuals are in their mid to late teens or older. Whether this indicates that measles vaccinations require a booster or that some people simply do not develop any immunity through vaccination is unclear. Everyone who attended public school since 1990 should have been vaccinated, as most states require a MMR vaccination for admission into a public school. Yet, this group of people is still showing susceptibility to the measles virus.
Contrary to progressive thought, vaccines are not magical elixirs. They are part of a risk management protocol with collateral damage. The reality is that the harm caused by certain diseases outweighs the [known] risks from specific vaccines. They are not zero. The side-effects of vaccines ranges from mild illness to inflammation (which may cause protein denaturation) to death.
That said, intentionally introducing an infected or carrier population into a healthy population is a cause for concern. Immunization only increases survivability and reduces injury. It does not prevent contraction of a disease. The immune response is reactive, not proactive.
Yes. What vaccines do is introduce some form of the infective agent [usually a virus] into the host to stimulate a reaction of the immune system, in the hope that the immune system will then react more readily to a future incursion due to exposure to an active virus. However this “immunity” is not necessarily eternal. Many vaccines require boosters to maintain effective immunity. What we are seeing in the last 10 years, in the contraction of measles and mumps by people from 14-35 years of age who have received a initial inoculations series, is that immunity decreases ~10 years after the initial series is administered. This was not evident due to the extremely low prevalence of these diseases in the US. As these diseases are reintroduced into the population, we are seeing short falls in effectiveness of initial inoculation series crop up.
And of course there are kids (and adults) with underlying health issues who may or may not have been immunized, but who would never come into contact with the virus if not for the idiots out there who won’t vaccinate thanks to a fraudulent medical paper which has since been retracted. And now that the disease is making a comeback more of these people will become infected and die.
I hope that Andrew Wakefield, Jenny McCarthy, and all their ilk burn in hell for what they’ve done.
How many cases of permanent hearing loss?
I would be interested in seeing any stats on mumps and rubella, which are very dangerous to adult populations. Since people are not vaccinating their children against these diseases either, one would expect to see incidences of these as well, although the epidemiology is bound to be different.
Like no one ever expected this?
Those who refuse to be vaccinated should be completely quarantined if/when any family member contacts the disease.
One thing to remember about wide spread inoculation.
Inoculations against viral diseases involve injecting that viral disease into a human host. Sometimes the viral agent is active [live] and sometimes it is inactive [dead]. All that a virus is, is a packet of RNA, part of the DNA which we all carry in our cells. It is injected into a cell to mutate that cell into an different organism, which is usually inimical to the host.
While using viral material to stimulate the human immune system is a sound idea, it has never been studied in regard to the the current mechanism for delivery. In 1980, the rate for childhood autism was 1 in 10,000 children under the age of 8. In 2016, the rate “plateaued” at 1 in 68 children in the same age group [per the CDC]. In that same period of time, the number of vaccinations rose from 10, or less, per child to a recommended minimum of 36 for that age group [some requiring two administrations]. Many of these are administered at the same time, for the sake of convenience. Think of the potential of infecting healthy, developing cells with multiple different packets of RNA at the same time. Would this be likely to increase the chances of mutation and other abnormal development? Who knows. It has never been studied. There are NO studies done on this subject at all. Statistically, the number of vaccines and the administration of multiple different vaccines at the same time dove tails nicely with the increase of autism cases. Also, the observed behavior of the patient follows a nearly identical course in almost all cases; inoculation with multiple vaccines, nearly immediate reaction both physical and behavioral and, shortly thereafter, a diagnosis of autism. No other agent, or agents, has been even remotely identified as being a likely cause for the increase in autism.
So, is it any wonder that parents are concerned about the effects of vaccines on their children? Instead of the current knee-jerk reaction by the vaccine manufacturers, public health interests and doctors to discount any connection between vaccines and/or the administration of multiple vaccines jointly and the onset of autism, a little bit of cogent scientific study might be a good idea. Because one a person manifests autistic behavior, that behavior is here to stay.
There is no proven link between autism and vaccines. Yes, the studies have been done. And the damage done by catching these diseases is equally permanent and affects far more people. Don’t want to be vaccinated? Stay in quarantine. Permanently.
First, NO comprehensive studies have been done with regard to the effects of simultaneous injection of multiple vaccines in children. Some were done with regard to thimerosal in MMR vaccines, but that is about it.
Second, an autism rate of 1:100 is several orders of magnitude higher than the highest mortality rate for measles in this country in the last 100 years.
Third, the purpose of inoculation is not to destroy a disease, but to guard individuals against contracting the disease. However, we now find out that some of these vaccines do not provide life-long immunity, and a subject has to be re-inoculated every decade or so or face a lessening or loss of immunity.
This herd immunization theory, which is so popular nowadays, gladly sacrifices any number of members of a society in order to reduce the number of cases of a specific infectious disease. This is fine for those who do not suffer any adverse effects from a vaccine, or vaccine regimen, but is it a little hard on those who do. Secondly, the current outbreaks of measles, over the last few years, has shown that vaccination for that disease has to be renewed~every 10 years, or those vaccinated can contract the disease if it is reintroduced into the population.
“Inoculations against viral diseases involve injecting that viral disease into a human host. Sometimes the viral agent is active [live] and sometimes it is inactive [dead]. All that a virus is, is a packet of RNA, part of the DNA which we all carry in our cells. It is injected into a cell to mutate that cell into an different organism, which is usually inimical to the host.”
After reading that, nobody who has even a high school understanding of biology should take heed of anything after it. You don’t even know the meaning of the words you are using.
There actually have been a number of studies seeking to link vaccines to autism and they have all come up negative. In fact, the researchers couldn’t even establish a correlation between vaccination and the development of autism. It may well be true that they are all full of it and there is a massive conspiracy to cover up the truth, but it seems unlikely to me.
I’ll just deal with your claim on the studies done on a correlation between vaccines and autism.
All of these studies were designed to return results which would show no causation between vaccine usage and autism. Virtually all of them were funded by the pharmaceutical industry, which manufactures vaccines.
There is a statistical correlation between the historical increased use of vaccines and the increase in diagnosed cases of autism. In 1980, the incidence of autism was 1:10,000 in children in the US. Now it is 1:68, per the CDC. If we factor out the inclusion of non-traditional behaviors from the autism umbrella and factor for potential over diagnosis today and under diagnosis in 1980, we still end up with an autism rate of ~1:500-1000. A full order of magnitude higher. So, what is causing this staggering increase in a group of neurological disorders? No one seems to be interested in finding that out. Maybe it is time that someone did.
What is this drivel?
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1. RNA is not a part of DNA in our cells or anywhere. DNA is the genetic material that stores the information in the form of genes within our chromosomes. RNA is the middleman. DNA is converted to messenger RNA which is then turned into proteins via the ribosomes.
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2. Viruses do not trigger the cell to mutate into a different organism. The RNA in the virus uses the cell’s organelles and biochemistry to produce large numbers of the various virus pieces. These pieces then self assemble into intact virus particles and, when their number becomes to great, the cell ruptures releasing all these new virus particles.
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I’ll stop here. Suffice it to say that you have a very limited and confused understanding of the entire virus, vaccine, and other biochemical roles and processes. You really have no business telling everyone how this works and defending your claim about autism for you are engaged in pseudoscience. You are obviously scientifically illiterate.
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And just for the record, there exists only one published work that supports the idea that vaccines can lead to autism. The published work was retracted when it was found that much of it was fabricated and not based in reality. To continue to cite retracted work based on fabricated research just to push your own agenda in the epitome of unethical and dishonest behavior.
Back to the basics.
Both RNA [ribonucleic acid] and DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid] are similar molecule chains composed of the same things, nucleotides. These chains of molecules essential tell a cellular structure what to do and how to do it. When viral RNA is injected into a cell, it takes control of the functioning of that cell to turn it into a factory for making more packets of viral RNA. To do that, it has to override the DNA controlling the cell. In essence it mutates the cell into a virus factory. How does it do this? There are a few theories, but, essentially, it is believed that the viral RNA binds with the cellular DNA to change the activities of the cellular structure. In essence it mutates the cell to the point where the cell eventually self destructs.
Now, what happens if we have simultaneous injections of viral RNA from different types of virus? Don’t know? Well, neither does anyone else, apparently. To what extent is the host cell changed? To what extent does the viral RNA recombine and what is produced? Don’t know? Again, neither does anyone else, apparently.
And, that is the problem. In 1980, the average child received 7-10 different vaccinations spread out over a year or more. Today, that same child receives vaccinations for over 30 viral diseases, in the same time period, with many of these inoculations incorporating multiple viral agents [mega-vaccines]. What more and more parents are doing, today, is going to doctors who will spread out the inoculations while avoiding mega-vaccine usage, where possible. Vaccinating people against the contraction of infectious diseases is a good idea. However, there has been no testing od the methodology and schedule of inoculations which shows if there are any adverse reactions to it. And, it has never been shown that the current method of immunization doe NOT cause these adverse effects. This arena is a few, but growing, number of families ranged against the bulk of the medical community, the pharmaceutical industry and federal government, in the form of the CDC and FDA.
The autism “fear” is a lie. The real reason the Somalis won’t get their vaccine is that it is regularly declared haraam by the local imams. In fact it is preached throughout black Africa and in Pakistan that vaccines are prohibited by the Hadith and that they are actually sterilization shots. There are no qualifications to be an imam other than to have two followers. They are selected by religious fervor and fanaticism. They are unbelievably stupid and ignorant in real life. I mean stupid.
If only our public health apparat were still willing to be serious about quarantine. But, alas, it is not.
As for “some who were vaccinated still get the disease,” this is to be expected, for no vaccine is 100% effective. Fortunately, it’s not necessary that they be 100%.
What creates the potential for epidemics is the probability that each new case can be expected to infect at least one additional person, thus creating an exponential growth in cases. So long as this probability can be kept below one, there will be only isolated outbreaks, no exponential growth, and thus no epidemic. (Yes, it’s the same math as a nuclear chain reaction: a reactor goes critical when the probability that one fission will cause more than one additional fission.)
Vaccines work to prevent epidemics not because they are perfect but because when most of the population is vaccinated the expected number of persons infected from each case falls below one, which can be achieved by vaccines with effectiveness well below 100%.
Vaccination does create something of a prisoners-dilemma situation in that if a vaccine carries even a small risk (as all do) then the the ideal situation for you will always be for everyone else but you to be vaccinated.
And, yes, the supposed link of vaccines to autism is pure bunk. A diagnosis of autism once predicted a life of institutionalization; today the diagnosis has been sufficiently expanded to cover a far larger population.