It is a hot button issue, but I wonder if many of those people were first time commenters, brought on from somewhere far away, just to attempt to sway the issue. You could probably tell if you could look at someone’s profile and see how many have only commented on that one article.
We didn’t spread our children’s vaccines out, but we delayed Hep B. The federal government protocol changed between the births of D2 and D3. D1 and D2 didn’t need it but D3 needed it at just a few days old? Our pediatrician explained that the government was trying to prevent the transmission of Hep B from HIV positive mothers to their newborns through breastfeeding. The best time to prevent that is right after birth because sometimes those babies get infected early and/or they miss regular pediatric visits.
You get Hep B the same way you get HIV, but it is more contagious. We started them on the vaccine schedule for that one around age 8.
In today’s newspaper there is a short article that says measles epidemic has killed over 900 in Madagascar.
http://www.startribune.com/measles-epidemic-in-madagascar-kills-more-than-900-says-who/506152272/
Thought of a potential analogy I want to run past folks here before using IRL.
If folks are arguing that one’s immune system is stronger post measles - even accounting for the three years or longer it takes to regain what was lost - and they are arguing this in my school world (kids - coming from parents), can I liken that to how bones are stronger after they’ve been broken and repair themselves? At which point this would mean we should take kids and purposely break their bones knowing they will be stronger after healing - ignoring those who will forever have problems due to not healing quite perfectly because those are in the minority and somehow don’t count.
The two ideas seem quite similar to me - though I do not agree one’s immune system is stronger after having had measles. That just seems to be the point a few kids are set on, so can I go around it with the comparison?
More will get the bone comparison I think - at least it might plant a seed showing how dumb the reasoning is.
$1M and still not done…
@creekland - the bone being stronger after being broken isn’t really true. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/broken-bones-grow-back-stronger-sort
@Creekland I really would not give the idea that measles strengthens the immune system any credence. At all.
The recent study that others have referenced showed that receiving the measles vaccine (and NOT having the actual measles) increased immunity to other diseases. And it also found that those who had the measles and not the vaccine ended up having their immunity from previous vaccines (for other illnesses) erased, making it necessary to revaccinate.
The study shows the efficacy of the vaccine, not the disease.
@MWolf but what they did understand was that getting the chickenpox earlier in life caused a lot less harm than getting it as an adult. Before the vaccine became available, people assumed they would get Chickenpox at some point and wanted their kids to get it while very young.
I remember the days when parents purposely exposed their kids to chicken pox and mumps… but never measles. With chicken pox and mumps, the diseases and potential complications were understood to be much worse if caught as teenagers or adults. I remember being told that mumps could cause sterility in men.
But measles killed small children as readily as adults, so while i think it was generally viewed as inevitable, I don’t think parents were as eager to expose their young children. Plus I have the impression that the course of the disease and caregiving demands were tougher with the measles.
Chicken pox itched like crazy but we weren’t bedridden.
Actually, measles (the disease) weakens immunity against other diseases that one’s immune system has encountered in the past, according to recent studies. I.e. immunity from previous diseases or vaccines may no longer be present after a measles infection.
@Consolation I’m not trying to give it credence, but that fake news is already believed and showing studies that prove otherwise hasn’t made a dent because all they say is, “Sure for a short time, but then afterward…” I was wondering if I could show that even afterward their argument doesn’t make sense.
Since bones don’t really come back stronger, it’s not an argument I want to make. Sometimes it’s rather easy to see that my forte is physics/chem/math rather than Bio, but I’ve picked up enough Bio to teach it (when necessary) at the high school level. This would be why I want to run ideas past those with more knowledge at times. 
I’ll stick with showing the studies about measles and immunity and assume those with reasoning skills can see the evidence even if the others are set in their beliefs in spite of it. It’d be nice having something else to counter with though.
“weakens immunity against other diseases”
@ucbalumnus
It only weakens immunity TEMPORARILY. NOT permanently.
After a few years the immunity levels are what they were before the onset of the disease.
“Measles is known to cause transient immunosuppression, but close inspection of the mortality data suggests that it disables immune memory for 2 to 3 years.”
This finding was in the Science article mentioned in a previous post.
Hmm, now my mind is contemplating using the bone analogy, then at the end showing how it’s not true that bones are stronger - linking that to the misheld belief that the immune system is stronger afterward. 2-3 years is a long time to go through life hoping for the best with a disabled immune system when the end result of being better isn’t even true. It still seems to work well with the idea of breaking bones to get stronger ones - going through the pain and potential lifelong problems - all for something that isn’t at all beneficial as one thought at the end. One ends up in the same place one started with both - except for all the possibilities that something did go wrong in the middle and the pain + suffering that went with it needlessly.
I had measles as a kid and whooping cough when I was in grad school. That might be one explanation for why the pertussis vaccine was no longer working, but that would only be true if in fact the effect lasts longer than a few years!
@mathmom, all adults need a pertussis vaccine booster after the age of 19. You may have not known that at the time. Perhaps that was not yet known back then, I’m not sure.
Which adults need a whooping cough vaccine?
All adults age 19 years and older need a one-time whooping cough booster vaccine. The whooping cough booster, called Tdap, is a combination vaccine with tetanus and diphtheria.
Pregnant women need Tdap vaccine during the third trimester (between 27 and 36 weeks of every pregnancy).
All adults, regardless of age, who anticipate having close contact with babies younger than 12 months (e.g., parents, grandparents, and childcare providers), ideally at least two weeks before beginning close contact with the baby.
All healthcare personnel in hospitals or ambulatory care settings. Priority is given to vaccination of workers in direct contact with babies younger than 12 months.
Once an adult gets the Tdap vaccine, they should get the Td (tetanus and diphtheria) booster every 10 years from then on.
Now there is a measles outbreak in Japan. As of two weeks ago there were 167 cases. Almost a third were part of a group that emphasizes natural healing and no vaccines. A few others were from people who had traveled to the Philippines where there are 9,000 cases and 146 deaths just in the first 6 weeks of 2019.
Herd immunity has been breached IMHO.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/world/asia/japan-measles-outbreak.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
You’re supposed to get a tetanus shot every 10 years, or when you have an incident that could expose you. It’s nice that getting a pertussis booster is built right in!
Actually, the tetanus / diptheria booster is available without pertussis (Td) or with pertussis (Tdap).
I don’t think it was known back then. I went and got enough shots because my parents lived in Africa at the time so everyone looked at my vaccination card to see what I needed. It wasn’t African kids who made me sick though it was ones from New Hampshire. My SIL gave it to me and both my brothers - she was a children’s librarian at the time.