Wow, I never would have guessed he was an MD of any stripe! I guess I’ve mostly ignored him as I find him way too dogmatic and extreme for my tastes.
Re the Mother Jones article, I was totally sympathetic until someone said they wanted to see snow. OMG I do not want to see another flake. 
Perfect tweet by Hillary Clinton that I and 12 thousand or so other people have retweeted this morning:
The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let’s protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest
Re: booster. There is no scheduled booster for teens or adults. If you to have not received the MMR (they often will check this when you are having a physical or when you are pregnant (?) ) you can receive the immunization.
This showed up on my FB feed this morning. I have two new twin grand daughters and this whole thing frightens me so much for them!
I don’t think it’s that. Most lawyers and business people believe in data they can support and facts they can count on. The current crop of potential presidential candidates feel they must oppose anything and everything Obama says to appeal to their base. And they’re twisting the vaccine topic into one of “choice,” which again will be hard for them to be consistent about given their positions on other choice-related issues.
churchmusicmom, congratulations on your twin granddaughters–wow!
Hopefully common sense will prevail and they will not face an elevated risk.
I want to address EK’s question in post 1822 about the vaccine compensation system. I believe it was created to prevent vaccine manufacturers from pulling vaccines, to protect the supply for the good of the public. I don’t know if this was in response to a specific case of liability or multiple cases and this is based on old memories so sorry I don’t know more specifics.
It’s a crying shame that people can’t learn from history and avoid repeating it. I think some antivaxxers think they can protect their children with optimum nutrition, mega doses of vitamins, etc. and they think their childrens’ immune systems will be stronger if they actually have the diseases. That may be true if they survive unscathed, but a lot of these diseases have some horrible complications including but not limited to death. Unfortunately I suspect some of them are not going to change their minds until they actually see one of their own children or someone they know develop a complication from these preventable diseases.
I was very young when measles tragically took the life of one of my cousins. I have never had the luxury of believing that it is a harmless disease.
The anti-vaxxers’ reliance on “building immunity” through “natural means” is, in the most polite terms possible, entirely misguided. My parents remember curfews and quarantines because of polio epidemics. They knew people who died of polio and measles. Whooping cough was also very dangerous. Guess what? People ate healthy food, probably organic, from their gardens – mostly vegetables and fruit, with next to no prepackaged stuff. They breathed plenty of fresh air, got lots of exercise, and played in the dirt. Even during the quarantines, when there were no public gatherings, including church services, children played outside. Polio, measles, and whooping cough were, however, no respecters of strong immune systems. The unhealthy died, but many of the healthy died as well.
Rand Paul couldn’t get board certified by the licensing board for his specialty so he made up his own board certification. You know. It’s so big gubmint to license or certify doctors; buyer beware.
The interesting thing is that what Rand Paul is supporting is basically what we currently do so I will be more interested when somebody seriously suggests mandatory vaccinations for all. Until then it’s all just a lot of noise.
Which vaccine made Michelle Bachman…Nevermind.
Since this recent outbreak has any governor or legislator introduced a bill in any state to eliminate all exemptions from vaccinations, except for medical reasons? It’s very nice to put out tweets but there needs to be legislation.
Also in California many parents have gotten their kids into school with partial vaccinations telling the school that they plan to get the rest, but there is no follow up by the school on whether they completed the round of vaccinations or not. Start kicking the unvaccinated out of schools, day cares, and pediatricians’ offices and the vaccination rate will rise.
Tatin, I don’t think that this was because of the outbreak but Michigan changed some requirements as of Jan 1: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/vaccination_rule_change_propos.html
This was likely in response to our own outbreaks which sent kids home for weeks last fall. Our vaccine rates are atrocious.
Yes and no… because while Rand Paul is correct that vaccination is voluntary, in most places there are consequences to not having your vaccinations without a real medical or religious exemption, like being unable to attend school! The failure to mention that part of it suggests to me that he thinks those unvaccinated kids should be in school spreading disease, and that is something we do NOT currently do… in most places.
I agree, TatinG. I work in a large elementary school and wonder how many of those children
are not fully vaccinated.
nevermind
I would not be so sure about that cosmic fish. Someone linked earlier that only 2 states in the US allow no exemptions other than medical contraindication. That means 48 states have a loophole, either allowing a religious exemption, and in many places, also a personal belief exemption.
This offers some insight into one couples decision - and rather hopeful updating of their thinking