Disneyland workers diagnosed with measles

[SunSeeker]

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 06:56 PM - Edit history (1)

Several employees at Disneyland have been diagnosed with measles, health officials confirmed Tuesday, as the total number of measles cases in the California-centered outbreak rose to 53.
...

The rapid spread of measles is what experts have feared. Health officials generally hope a measles outbreak can be contained within a manageable group of people and eventually extinguished by keeping the ill at home or in a hospital room until they recover, with the outbreak eventually being stopped by the broader community of vaccinated people.

But with vaccination rates falling off over the last several years, the virus appears to be spreading.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-disneyland-employee-measles-20150120-story.html?track=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=649324

[shenmue]

1. Thanks, anti-vaxxers

Jerks.

[Control-Z]

2. I live in Orange County.

My 3 children have all been vaccinated. I never thought I would have to think about this disease. Stupid, stupid anti-vaxers.

K&R to the greatest page.

[jeff47]

6. Make sure you get your booster too.

You need one every 5 to 10 years, depending on which one you got.

[Control-Z]

8. I wasn't aware that a Booster was required after

the middle school Booster, which my children did get.

Actually, I'm possibly more susceptible. I have no idea if at some late date, like in elementary school when they lined us up and gave out polio vaccinations, if maybe that included more than just polio.

I never had the measles. My older sister did. I remember my dad talking about it. I don't know if I had the chocked pox. It never came up in conversation. But my parents had both already died while I was still a minor so I have no way of knowing.

I think I'm immune to chicken pox because I never caught it them from my kids. Measles? I think I'm totally unprotected. Like I said, I never thought I would have to think about it.

[LeftyMom]

9. You can have your doctor do a titer to check your immunity for both.

Probably not a bad idea if you're unsure.

[Control-Z]

10. A titer?

I should ask my doctor to do a titer? I've never heard of that. He will know what I'm talking about?

[LeftyMom]

11. It's a lab test to check your immunity level.

If it's low for either you can get vaccinated.

[jeff47]

14. Alternatively, you could just get the vaccine again.

The chances of harm from the vaccine are miniscule. Getting an MMR vaccine even if you're immune to measles is probably not a bad idea - there's the other two diseases in the vaccine too. If you get an MMRV, it will also include the virus that causes chicken pox.

[jeff47]

15. Yep. Every 10 years.

Assuming your kids followed the "standard" schedule, they got a shot at 5, and then needed a booster 10 years later. They (and you) need to keep getting boosters. But since most people are no longer in school at 25, they aren't aware they need it. It also doesn't help that many 20-somethings don't bother with annual checkups, so they don't hear it from their doctor.

There are some studies that indicate we may need boosters more frequently - every 5 years. Not completely proven or disproven yet.

[Skittles]

3. cue the idiots to say us boomers all had it so why not everyone else

teh stupidity, it burns

[SheilaT]

4. Are the ONLY people coming down with measles those who were not vaccinated?

If so, than maybe they don't deserve too much sympathy, but if more than one of them was vaccinated, then maybe the vaccine itself isn't quite as effective as advertized.

I'm old enough to have gotten measles as a child, so I'm not affected by any outbreak of this disease.

[jeff47]

7. No vaccine is 100% effective.

They all have a failure rate, somewhere in the single-digits percent. (Varies by vaccine)

Our immune response can create "memory" cells. These cells remember what antibody worked in the past, and any new infection is run by them. If one of the memory cell is a hit, our body ramps up the immune response extremely quickly.

Vaccines don't keep you from catching the disease. What they do is cause such a rapid immune response that you have no symptoms and are unable to pass on the disease.

Anyway, sometimes vaccines fail to create those "memory" cells. Normally, these people are protected by herd immunity. Since antivaxxers break herd immunity, these people are at-risk too.

The measles vaccine requires a booster, every 5 or 10 years (depends on which one you get, and new research is leaning towards 5 years for everyone). Lots of people get their booster at 15, since they're still in school. A lot fewer get their booster at 20/25 and it goes downhill from there.

[SummerSnow]

5. Thanks Obama

[mackerel]

12. From what I've read, those that came down with measles were either not

vaccinated or not fully vaccinated. So I really don't understand why everyone get so mad at those that are against vaccinating? It seems they are the ones who should be the most at risk so if they want to take that chance let them. The rest of us are fine.

[SunSeeker]

13. No, the rest of us are not fine.

Babies who are too young to vaccinate for measles can catch measles --a horrible disease that can lead to brain damage and death.

Also, the measles vaccine is over 99% effective, but not 100% effective. A tiny percentage of people who have been fully vaccinated could still catch the measles if exposed. That wasn't an issue with everyone vaccinated, but now it is with vaccination rates falling and the risk of exposure increasing. If say 1% of those vaccinated aren't protected, you're talking thousands of vulnerable people in a place like Orange County or Los Angeles.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2014/04/17/36986/faq-how-you-can-still-get-measles-even-after-being/

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/18/304155213/why-mumps-and-measles-can-spread-even-when-were-vaccinated

[jeff47]

16. They aren't just risking their own health. They're risking health of strangers too.

Some people are too young to get vaccinated.
Some people are too ill to get vaccinated.
Some people are allergic to vaccine components, and can't get vaccinated.
Some people got vaccinated, but the vaccine didn't "take" (happens <10% of the time)

All of those people used to be protected by herd immunity. Antivaxxers destroy herd immunity. So antivaxxers are not just risking their own health, they're risking the health of other people too.

Your right to be an idiot about your own healthcare ends when you start causing deadly harm to other people.

[mackerel]

17. Like I've stated many times, you ought not take unvaccinated children out to large germ

breeding places like Disneyland until your children are fully vaccinated.

Why are the fully vaccinated so upset over this? If you're vaccinated than you should be good, that's the reason for vaccinating.

[jeff47]

18. So...kids who are allergic to vaccine components should never be allowed in public.

Kids who had the misfortune to require an organ transplant need to be locked away too.

How 'bout the kids where the vaccine doesn't work? A failure rate of 2% is fine when there's herd immunity. It isn't fine when antivaxxers destroy herd immunity. Clearly we need to do lengthy and expensive tests in everyone instead of saying mean things about antivaxxers.

Why are the fully vaccinated so upset over this?

Because antivaxxers are killing strangers.

If your stupid kills someone else, you shouldn't be surprised when people are upset at you. Doesn't matter if your stupid was leaving a loaded gun around, or if your stupid was believing B-list celebrities instead of your own doctor.

[mackerel]

20. I think you're trying to make more than one point.

So help me understand the first part which is about kids who are allergic to vaccine components. I'm not familiar with this so I need a little more background info, how is it established that kids are allergic to the vaccine?

[jeff47]

21. By having an allergic reaction to earlier vaccines

The first MMR vaccine comes after a lot of earlier vaccines.

If a child has an allergic reaction to earlier vaccines, they don't get the later ones. It's vaguely like being allergic to peanut butter or bee stings - their body's over-reaction to an antigen can cause swelling everywhere, which can block off their throat and they suffocate.

As a result, newborns are watched very closely when they get their first vaccinations - it's one of the reasons a baby stays overnight in a hospital after birth. The allergic reaction can be suppressed via drugs, or worst-case handled via intubation. So it can be handled if it happens while a baby is in a hospital, but that allergic reaction makes it too risky to give later vaccinations.

[CreekDog]

19. some people cannot be vaccinated

and their immunity depends on not being surrounded with others who can be vaccinated but choose not to be.

did you know that it takes a village to prevent these kinds of diseases?