When people don't vaccinate their kids

Did we discuss this already? Turns out, Russia maintains a tr0ll factory to fuel anti-vax sentiment.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/health/russian-■■■■■■-vaccines.html

If only we could get Russia to help us fuel anti-head injury sports sentiment…

@dietz199 That’s not quite how precedence works, at least not in the English common law system. But the case has been admitted on its merits. And the Children Act 1989 states that children’s welfare should be the paramount concern of the courts. The legislation makes parents’ prerogatives secondary.

Wow:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/world/australia/cervical-cancer-hpv-vaccine.html

Australian results are really impressive! Way back when I did my dissertation that had to do with behavioral correlates of STD risk in teens, I was waiting to defend in the lobby of my department with a subset of my committee and the MD on my committee was sharing important news with me on the projection that a vaccine for HPV was close to being developed. I remember he was so excited, and it took another 12 to 15 years to actually come to market. It’s exciting now to see such great results.

Thanks for sharing the Australian HPV link. This data is very impressive, I hope that it increases the HPV vaccine rate in the US, which is too low, especially for boys. Even in my highly educated, fairly affluent area, many families don’t understand why the boys should be vaccinated (despite pediatricians strongly recommending it). Also, the vaccines now require only 2 separate injections vs. 3 when the products first launched.

It is now approved for older adults, up to age 45. They will need three injections, not two.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/health/hpv-virus-vaccine-cancer.html

Seems that resistance to HPV vaccine is based on parents’ often-wishful thinking that their kids will be virgin until marriage with someone who is also virgin until that marriage.

Nah. It’s not going to change people’s minds. There’s a not immaterial number of parents who don’t even give their kids the MMR and polio vaccines.

Ok, have just sent the article to my S and told him we will pay for it.

Some older adults may have received a less effective type of measles vaccine as children (up to 1967).

If you are in this group, it is advisable to get an adult MMR vaccine, particularly if you visit places like Marin County.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/some-adults-need-to-be-revaccinated-against-measles-021115

Truth be told, all vaccines can/do wear off. That’s why everyone who is medically able to has to get vaccinated, to block the viruses from infiltrating the community. The public health goal of most vaccines is to build a robust herd immunity so that there is no wild virus at all. That’s how we eradicated smallpox worldwide.

(Obviously, this is not the case for flu vaccine.)

“Seems that resistance to HPV vaccine is based on parents’ often-wishful thinking that their kids will be virgin until marriage with someone who is also virgin until that marriage.”

The irony is that of the people I know for whom that assumption is actually true, they’re all fully open about sex education, HPV-vaccinated, etc.

Last weekend I was talking to mr r’s cousin (more like a brother)'s wife when I found out her parents were anti vaxxers. They never had her or her siblings vaccinated as kids and, in her words, “jokes on them because I’m autistic anyways!”

The day she turned 18, she went to the doctor to get all the vaccines she could that she missed.

Apparently though, her parents and grandparents don’t accept that she has autism so are still anti vax “cuz autism.” (She is about as textbook case of autism as you can get.)

I’m already anticipating push back from Mr R’s parents when I ask them to get a tdap booster before being around our child if they haven’t already gotten it for the other grandbabies (which I’m pretty sure they haven’t). They don’t know we’re trying to conceive though so luckily it is a topic I wont have to broach for quite a while.

Got my quadrivalent flu vaccine today. Crossing fingers that the target viruses turn out to be the ones that actually show up.

Early word is it’s going to be an unusually bad flu year. Two deaths in our county already, though they brought the flu in with them from travel.

W’s work allows people to have religious exemptions for vaccinations. They have to wear a mask at all times from October 1 until the end of April.

Wow. Last year was really bad (80,000 deaths!) and we had had warning from Australia to expect that. I heard that things were going to be quieter this year. I hope so.

Just got word that we have our first confirmed case of the mumps at UMich. Yay…

@ucbalumnus , even if their child intends to remain a virgin, rape could still happen. Those parents are playing with their kids’ lives.

@romanigypsyeyes , my SIL wouldn’t even let my nephew apply to colleges that didn’t grant him a vaccine exemption. I sure hope the second he landed on campus he went to health services and got caught up. SIL actually tried to enlist our support by asking for detailed health histories about OUR kids to “prove” there was a familial history that made them all susceptible to adverse reactions. Naturally, our well-vaccinated kids refused to give her any info.

And you guys have all reminded me that I’m due for a flu shot!