What’s with the “Boot Hill” photo in this post? That was clearly taken at WDW or maybe Paris, but not Disneyland Anaheim.
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I wonder if any of the Haunted Mansion tombstone inscriptions would be applicable to an unvaccinated measles victim.
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That’s your tapeworm getting annoyed.
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Well, how about a forehead tattoo of a QR code in invisible, ultraviolet ink?
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I did a pechakucha talk on data literacy. One slide was “vaccination does not equal autism.” Really, you decide to take the advice of a model/actress (using terms lightly) over the advice of your pediatrician?
Ok- edited to add that in my talk (there was beer involved, and no small amount of pressure since John Langford and Ken Nordine were also speaking) I think I said “playboy bunny,” rather than model/actress. Its true, but felt like I was smearing ms Mcarthy on unfair grounds, rather than the legitimate ones…
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I would prefer a computer chip in my hand. One that also is mandated in order to purchase goods and services in stores.
Preferably with a logo that includes the number 666 on it.
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Eddie Deezen and Gary Busy
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I completely agree with your disagreements with Reider. I’m 100% pro-vaccine. At the same time, I completely agree with Reider on this:
Lumping skeptical parents with the crazies is a way to avoid legitimate questions. Such as: Should tetanus vaccination be required for entrance to school, given that tetanus is not a communicable disease? Why should hepatitis B immunization be required for school entrance, when the disease is found primarily among adult drug users and sex workers? Do we need to keep immunizing against diseases, such as chickenpox, that are almost always mild?
Those are excellent questions, illustrating policy complexities in what most people view as a simple debate. The questions are more important than whether or not the person asking them is a GP.
EDIT: Unless, of course, they aren’t excellent questions. If they’re not, I’ve no doubt the BB readership will educate me.
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Trinity County is hardly hippy dippy don’t vax me, bro. It’s anti-vax rates must come from the opposite end of the spectrum.
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I don’t disagree that those are good questions. I will admit I have an axe to grind against shoddy journalism and people committing fraud.
Tetanus obviously is a requirement driven not by sensible health policy, but by fear of litigation. Or just lazy health practice. I did lots of dumb stuff as a youngster that resulted in stitches or pulling a foreign object out. Tetanus shots are something like every 10 years or so. But, if you go in for stitches or to have something excised from your flesh, and it’s been longer than 5 or 6 years, you’re probably getting another one anyways. The boosters must be very inexpensive.
Anyways, Tetanus and Hep B should not be mandatory. Do you know what should? HPV vaccines. Starting with Jr. High.
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Yes. Because if you allow your child to get it naturally, they go from a 0% chance of getting shingles as an adult (which is insanely painful, and can cause permanent neurological damage), to a >0 chance of getting it as an adult.
The chickenpox vaccine doesn’t just protect little johnny from the chicken pox when he’s six. It also protects him from getting a horrifically painful stress-induced disease when he’s 40. Thanks mom and dad, that totally vaccine preventable, mild case of chicken pox means I that now when I’m 40 I can’t prevent myself from getting a burning blistering rash that’s agonizing, lasts a few weeks, but may keep hurting for months or years after it heals.
ETA: It turns out there’s a Zoster vaccine that’s meant for adults over 55. It’s a little less effective than getting the chickenpox grade vaccine as a child, but still does work for adults who’ve had the chickenpox as children, and even if they’ve had a case of shingles. The main side effect is “mild blistering” around the injection site that clears up in a few days.
Although the smart thing to do is just have your kid vaccinated when they’re young before they get the chicken pox with the Zoster vaccine meant for children that doesn’t usually have any side effects/side effects that are milder than the adult variant.
Also, both types are Live Attenuated Virus, so there’s a chance you can get a very mild case of the chickenpox from the vaccine, but the risk of complications and severity is much lower than getting it naturally, and immunizes from/reduces severity of any further infections for 20 years at the high-end of the spectrum. (There’s also a study that shows a decent proportion of people vaccinated 30 years ago when these vaccines first came out still have immunity).
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I’ve read in a few different sources that it is possible to develop shingles as an adult following immunisation for varicella as a child. Apparently less likely than through the wild strain because the vaccine virus is attenuated. Do you know anything about this?
I’m sure that happens. No vaccine is 100% effective for everyone. We’re talking biological systems here. According to the highly sourced wiki article it’s definitely a thing that happens.
But what the really the important things to keep in mind are: the varicella vaccine confers immunity and reduces the severity of chickenpox and shingles in people who aren’t 100% immune. As well as having herd immunity effects in a highly vaccinated population, which protects those who can’t get the vaccine for legitimate medical reasons.
IIRC, and don’t take my word for this, the adult zoster vaccine is somewhere around 60% effective for total immunity for 5+ years. Which isn’t high if you compare that to the most successful vaccines ever made. But that’s still 60% better than homeopathic nosodes ie doing nothing and hoping for the best.
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I’m only a dog parent at the moment. I’d like to add that I can’t bring my puppy anywhere without certification of her immunizations. And rightly so, she’s a petri dish with poor impulse control.
And yes, yes, yes, places like Disneyland are correct to exclude public health hazards of -any- sort. Unvaccinated children are a public health hazard. Their parents are negligent assholes who take chances with the lives of those who are unable to be vaccinated. No different from negligent driving or negligence in any other aspect of being a civilized human.
Judge them. Judge them like you judge people doing wheelies in traffic, openly carrying firearms into a KFC, or droning on about their sovereign citizenship. They are exactly as well informed and add exactly as much to society. They are the change they wish to see, and it is backwards. Judge them.
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When did you stop beating your wife?
Surely the question is more important than whether or not the basis of it is correct?
And those are not ‘policy’ complexities. They’re ‘toxicology’ complexities, they sound beyond your depth, they are well within mine however,
…and you’re incorrect. No need to be wrong about it.
I think we’re a little early in the process to consider branding and marketing strategies at this point, but I like your ideas and will take them under advisement. Keep 'em coming!
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Education was last year. This year it’s all about the doxxing.
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Given that shingles can start in your 40’s, why on earth isn’t the vaccine recommended for people between 40-55? Same with the pneumonia vaccine. How many times do I have to suffer that shit before I reach the magic age? I just had it for the 4th or 5th time a few years ago.
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You’re a statistical outlier, that’s why. From a government perspective it isn’t worthwhile to vaccinate a single forty year old, because the P-value says it’s most cost-effective for them to vaccinate ALL 55 year olds.
It’s the same reasoning for moving the recommended age of yearly mammograms up, except cancer isn’t infectious, but vaccine preventable diseases are.
But don’t quote me on that. I can’t claim to have great knowledge, this is just my personal gist. I’m not a doctor, I’m not an epidemiologist. I recommend speaking with multiple real life flesh and blood doctors and epidemiologists as well as reading the literature before forming a solid opinion.
If I’m wrong here, I’d be very happy to be corrected. How else would I learn?
