Measles epidemic could infect 100,000 children, say health experts

[Guest guest]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/28/children-health

Measles epidemic could infect 100,000 children, say health experts

Health Protection Agency blames a sharp rise in measles cases in 2008 on the low uptake of the MMR vaccine

Batty and agencies

guardian.co.uk, Friday November 28 2008 13.46 GMT

Fears that up to 100,000 children in England could be infected with measles in a major epidemic were raised today after government figures showed a sharp rise in cases of the disease.

The number of measles cases in England and Wales so far this year has exceeded 1,000 for the first time since 1995, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

In the first 10 months of 2008 there were 1,049 cases, more than in the whole of 2007, when there were 990, said the agency, which monitors infectious diseases.

It said measles was spreading more easily because of the relatively low uptake of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) jab over the past decade.

The HPA said there are about 3m children - or one in four – who have not had both MMR doses.

Its research showed that, without a wider uptake of the MMR vaccine, there was a real risk of a large measles epidemic of between 30,000 to 100,000 cases - the majority in London.

Dr Ramsay, an immunisation expert at the HPA, said: "Over the last few years we have seen an unprecedented increase in measles cases and we are still receiving reports of cases across the country.

"One thousand and forty-nine is the highest number of measles cases recorded in England and Wales since the current method of monitoring the disease was introduced in 1995.

"This rise is due to relatively low MMR vaccine uptake over the past decade and there are now a large number of children who are not fully vaccinated with MMR. This means that measles is spreading easily among unvaccinated children.

"There is now a real risk of a large measles epidemic. These children are susceptible to not only measles but to mumps and rubella as well."

The fall in uptake of MMR was triggered by now-discredited research claiming there was a link between the jab and autism.The chief medical officer for England, Professor Sir Liam son, announced an MMR catch-up programme in August with the aim of ensuring that children receive both doses of the vaccine and so are fully protected.

He urged local health trusts and GPs to identify not fully protected children and offer them catch-up immunisation to reduce the risk of a measles epidemic.

A mass vaccination is to take place in Cheshire next month, with the parents of 10,000 children asked to give consent for the MMR vaccine.

The move comes after tests confirmed 19 cases of the disease in the county, with a further 49 children being treated for "probable" measles.

[Guest guest]

"Measles epidemic could infect 100,000 children, say health experts"

I've been thinking about this carefully, and I believe that:

-In light of the fact that 137 of the world's most reputable scientists in 50 locations in 9 countries around the world already identified the genes which cause autism and ruled out environmental triggers, and

-In light of peer reviews backing up the research, and

-In light of Phase II of the study which continually discovers which aspects of which genes cause autism...

It seems that there are only three reasons for which a child would want to avoid vaccinating their child

1) Religious reasons, which have nothing to do with the vaccine controversy at all.

2) Ignorance - obviously they have not heard of all this research despite the fact that it has been publicized widely four years now.

3) A willful intent to disregard medical authority and medical research.

In the first case, the situation ought to be left alone.

In the second case, the cure for these parents is to inform them of the facts.

In the third case, the cure for the situation is to remove the children from the parents' household, vaccinate them against the parents' wishes, and jail the parents for endangering their children. These measures MUST be taken because the parents, by not vaccinating their children, cause a potentially fatal risk to their children and may be causing the creation of a plague of measles that will affect the community-at-large. Just as we would not allow a known assassin to roam the streets, we cannot allow these parents to do the same. They need to be caught and jailed, as any assassin should be.

Alternatively, we can let these kids get measles and get all the symptoms and reprecussions from them, one of those being the possibility of death.

If parents are willing to choose the option of death instead of the option of life, then people should not be imposed upon to give them any kind of support for the medical care of these unvaccinated children, nor should they be allowed to attend the funerals of unvaccinated children who die from measles, nor should they give the parents mental and moral support since these parents willfully allowed their children to be killed by a preventable disease and willfully endangered the public health .

Another alternative available to us is to prevent their unvaccinated children from attending school or associating with any other child outside the home. Likewise, the parents would be quarantined. This would in effect socially isolate both the children and the parents, and since we know that this would be detrimental to their mental health and social well-being, we know that perhaps the mere prospect of losing social contact permanently might cause parents to get their children vaccinated.

Further, any kind of aid to these parents and children during this time of quarantine be it in the form of food, money, and clothing, would be cut off. Society should not be made to pay for the care of these people when science has proven them wrong.

Finally, a parents' fear of their children getting autism seems to be quite phobic in light of research that suggests it is caused by genetic variation. Thus these parents should be treated in psychiatric facilities until their mania is dissolved.

One thing is certain. In light of the new research, I am positive that parents who refuse to read it and educate themselves and believe it do not love their children one iota and must have some sort of death wish for them.

Administrator

[Guest guest]

I agree with you 100%. Sadly, these people will use the " free country " excuse and probably get away with it. It really bothers me when others learn I have autism and they immediately ask if I was vaccinated. I hate having to reexplain to everyone I meet that this vaccine crap has been disproven so many times now.

On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 10:33 AM, environmental1st2003 <no_reply > wrote:

Finally, a parents' fear of their children getting autism seems to be quite phobic in light of research that suggests it is caused by genetic variation. Thus these parents should be treated in psychiatric facilities until their mania is dissolved.

One thing is certain. In light of the new research, I am positive that parents who refuse to read it and educate themselves and believe it do not love their children one iota and must have some sort of death wish for them.

Administrator