U.S. measles outbreak sets record for post-elimination era

[Warren Stupidity]

Thanks anti-vac people! You've got a lot to be proud of!

In the past 20 years, a concerted public health campaign, especially among lower-income families, has made measles outbreaks rare in the United States. But an estimated 20 million people are infected in Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere each year, and 122,000 of them die.

In the United States, the number of people who choose not to be immunized for religious, philosophical or personal reasons has begun to become a public health problem, Schuchat said. Others are unaware of, or unable to get, vaccinations before they arrive in the United States. A small number of adults can lose their immunity over time and may need to be re-vaccinated.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/05/29/u-s-measles-outbreak-sets-record-for-post-elimination-era/?tid=pm_national_pop

[postulater]

1. 122,000 / 20,000,000 = 0.61%

That means 99.39% of those infected didn't die.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Fatality rate is 1/1000

How serious is the disease?

Measles itself is unpleasant, but the complications are dangerous. Six to 20 percent of the people who get the disease will get an ear infection, diarrhea, or even pneumonia. One out of 1000 people with measles will develop inflammation of the brain, and about one out of 1000 will die.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles/faqs-dis-vac-risks.htm

And MMR Vac:
Severe problems (very rare)
•Serious allergic reaction (less than 1 out of a million doses)
• Several other severe problems have been reported after a child gets MMR vaccine, including: ◦Deafness
◦ Long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness
◦Permanent brain damage


These are so rare that it is hard to tell whether they are caused by the vaccine.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/mmr.html

Did you have a point?

[SheilaT]

3. It seems to me that the point is that

the fatality rate for measles is incredibly low.

Which isn't to say no one should get the vaccine, but it does need to be put in context.

My guess is that a lot of other things we don't freak out about have a higher fatality rate.

And it also does seem to me as though there's a very strong inclination on the part of the media and the CDC to emphasize how incredibly dangerous every disease is. I wish there would be more of a sense of proportionality. Even the 1918 flu epidemic, as terrible and deadly as it was, at most killed only 3 to 5% of the world's population. Exact numbers vary, of course, but about 10 to 20% of those infected died. Meaning 80 to 90% survived. I know that sounds as if I'm being dismissive. I'm not. But people buy lottery tickets that have a tiny fraction of one percent of winning money with.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. The individual death rate is low, the infection rate can be very high.

Measles epidemics were common before 1957. When millions get infected a 1/1000 death rate is a lot of dead people, 1,000 per million infected. The vaccine protects not only the children who get vaccinated, it prevents epidemics and protects people who haven't, people who have lost their immunity over time, etc. We were close to eliminating measles as a health issue here, no we are moving in the wrong direction.

[SidDithers]

5. DU rec...

Fuck the anti-vaxxers.

Sid