Got it. And it appears to be coming from the Phillipines. Got that, too.
I’m no epidemiologist. It seems that the genotypes are most helpful for figuring out the source of the infection?
Perhaps. Perhaps the original person came from the Philippines. However, it is being spread by Americans who have chosen not to vaccinate.
If that person from the Philippines (or wherever) had visited Mississippi, where 99.9% of people are vaccinated, it’s possible that one or two vulnerable people might have been infected–but the risk of that would have been low, and the further spread would have also been very limited.
I have on CNN. CDC says 102 new cases across 14 states now.
And again, we don’t know that the original person was FROM the Philippines. It could just as easily have been an unvaccinated American who visited the Philippines and picked up the measles there.
And the only reasons the Philippines is mentioned is that there was an outbreak there in 2014. The same strain is present in other countries, too.
^^^Yes, even the CDC site says they don’t know for sure who patient zero is. I don’t think it’s that important in the big picture, though.
Agree. Focusing on Patient Zero completely misses the big picture - herd immunity / protection is weakened due to the idiots who don’t vax their kids and therefore give the disease more of a foothold to spread. Did I say idiots? Well, yes, that’s exactly what I said and what I meant.
Palomina, do you believe your own child’s autism was due to vaccines – is that why this is such a hot button topic for you?
I belong to a childhood cancer board, and the parents there are truly frightened.
One of the worst things about cancer is the loss of control, and this is yet another way in which parents of cancer patients can’t protect their kids. It must be horrifyingly scary for these families.
At present the state of Mississippi does not allow for an exemption for parent’s personal reasons to not vaccinate. However, there is a bill that was introduced into the Mississippi legislature to allow such exemptions. I hope that this measles outbreak defeats that bill. Mississippi has the highest rate of vaccinated children in the country.
As if having a child with cancer isn’t horrifying enough. And it’s not just that they now face a greater threat–it’s that these anti-vax people really, truly don’t care.
I love that Mississippi is leading in something positive for a change.
The one I know is in CA Kid in public school, another in private school and all sorts of activities, not innoculated for anything and was fighting it tooth and nail.
@Pizzagirl, yes, they are a contributing factor. Period. End of story.
You believe vaccines to be a contributing factor, I think is what you mean to say. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but not to your own facts.
And the anti vaxer I know believes firmly, has medical and research documentation, that vaccinations could be a contributing factor to the seizures and cognitive disorders that her daughter has.
Though I personally do not know if that is indeed the case, seeing all kinds of conflicting info on this, I will say that it certainly could be. But the chances of that being a contributing factor for any one given child should be weighed against the death sentence that exposure to these diseases can impose on a population that I am very familiar with. I know a half dozen people right off the bat that I know caught these diseases and died. Some before The vaccines were avaliable (chicken pox). When my son was in treatment, the pediatric oncology floor lost a kid a year to chicken pox, on average. I knew the ones who died when we were in treatment and the misery the ones who got chicken pox and were lucky enough not to die of it as well. When looking at the horror and mortality/morbidity of those who can get these diseases because they are vulnerable due to immune system issues, the statistical percentages of getting complications from the vaccines and the chances of DEATH are much smaller That I do know as I’ve seen the numbers. Very selfish, IMO, to subject a population to death sentences on a maybe issue that is smaller statistically, significantly smaller in terms of mortality.
I admit to not knowing a great deal about autism. But isn’t the research pointing more and more to a genetic etiology?
The MMR did not cause my son’s autism. We have a strong genetic factor on my side.