Mothering Forum banner

Measles outbreak in my area

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  lilgreen 
#1 ·
There has been a confirmed case of measles in an employee at a store where I regularly do my grocery shopping. According to health officials, DD and I may have been exposed, as we shopped there on January 26. DD (6 y.o.) is unvaccinated. I am not so worried about myself, as I know my parents made sure I had every vaccine possible.

What I am most concerned about is the fact that my husband is in the hospital due to a severe leg fracture, and he will probably be there for weeks. I have been at the hospital with him, as have our kids.

Could we be contributing to a possible measles epidemic at the hospital? He was transferred yesterday to hospital #2, which means we could be spreading things at two different places. Here is the article about the local outbreak. Is there anything I can/should be doing to keep everyone safe?

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_22518787/measles-outbreak-palo-alto-medication-foundation-has-vaccine
 
#3 ·
A long time since this post. Measles is very contagious, but no one can spread it unless they have it. So unless sometone in the family is sick there is no danger of contagion. Most measles cases occur in vaccinated people, so previous vaccination does not guarantee protection. Given the circumstances - shopping in a store, I would not worry. Besides, measles is easy to manage with holistic methods.
 
#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Neustaedter View Post

A long time since this post. Measles is very contagious, but no one can spread it unless they have it. So unless sometone in the family is sick there is no danger of contagion. Most measles cases occur in vaccinated people, so previous vaccination does not guarantee protection. Given the circumstances - shopping in a store, I would not worry. Besides, measles is easy to manage with holistic methods.
This post has so much misinformation I am shocked. Actually I am not shocked, because by reading this forum it is clear you have no idea what you are talking about. I will address your claims point by point:

1. "No one can spread it unless they have it." That's enlightening. Please tell me how you KNOW someone has it since it is well documented that measles has a 7-21 day incubation period with no symptoms? http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2014/chapter-3-infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/measles-rubeola

2. "Most measles cases occur in vaccinated people." Wrong. Only 15% of measles cases occurred in people who were known to have gotten the vaccine. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/measles-cases-hit-record-levels-in-u-s-vaccinations-encouraged-1.2620724

3. "Besides, measles is easy to manage with holistic methods." Wrong again. Please cite your studies showing that "holistic" methods can treat measles. Also, I would like to know how your "holistic methods" are used to treat measles encephalitis, which occurs 1 in 2000 cases, or how it treats SSPE which occurs once in every 50-100k cases. While you're at it, please explain how your "holistic methods" would have prevented the 2.6 million worldwide deaths from measles that occurred in 1980, before routine vaccination began. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs286/en/ Again, please cite your sources.
 
#5 ·
I can see that you feel very strongly about this. I'm sorry that you feel the need to resort to such a rude and vociferous tone in what could otherwise be scientific discourse.

1. During the incubation period of a disease people are not typically contagious until the infection begins causing symptoms.

2. It is not unusual for measles cases to occur in unvaccinated people of course and this outbreak may be occurring primarily in the unvaccinated. However, in the past measles vaccine failures and epidemics in the vaccinated population have plagued measles vaccine efforts.For someone so intent on quoting studies, the source of this information is not based on a study, but rather on a media news report. In my book The Vaccine Guide there is a long discussion of the occurrence of measles in previously vaccinated people. Here is an excerpt. References are available in my book.

Vaccine Efficacy

The vaccine has apparently resulted in a dramatic decline in measles cases. In the light of these promising statistics, a national goal was set to eliminate measles by 1982. Notwithstanding these hopes, reports of epidemics in fully vaccinated populations have appeared periodically and consistently since the vaccine's introduction (Shasby et al., 1977; Weiner et al., 1977; Hull et al., 1985).

A typical example was reported by Dr. Tracy Gustafson and col- leagues in the New England Journal of Medicine. During the spring of 1985, a measles outbreak occurred in two fully vaccinated secondary- school populations (greater than 99 percent of students vaccinated). On serologic testing, 95 percent of students showed immunity to measles. The epidemic occurred in the remaining 5 percent, all of whom had been "adequately" vaccinated (Gustafson et al., 1987).

Some authors have postulated that a waning immunity over time is responsible for these outbreaks among older children (Shasby et al., 1977). Others blame primary vaccine failure. In any case, the pub- lic health goal of eradicating measles in the United States by 1982 was not met, despite rigorous vaccine programs.

Gustafson concluded in 1987 that such a goal is impossible to meet. She was right. In an attempt to counteract the resurgence of measles, CDC announced a two-dose measles schedule (Centers for Disease Control, 1989i), but a new epidemic again foiled the goals for measles eradication. Nonetheless, a new date was set for elimi- nation of measles in 1996 (Centers for Disease Control, 1994c). In frustration, other researchers also admitted that eradication of measles may not be possible since transmission continues to occur in adoles- cents and adults who have been fully vaccinated. Their understated and plaintive response was, "Measles elimination has proved more difficult than previously predicted" (Hersh et al., 1991).

Measles cases now consistently occur in the vaccinated. A review of measles outbreaks in the United States during 1985-1986 revealed that a median of 60 percent of cases in school-age children occurred in vaccinated individuals (Markowitz et al., 1989). Similarly, a review of 1,600 cases of measles in Quebec, Canada, between January and May 1989 showed that 58 percent of school-age cases had been pre- viously vaccinated (Centers for Disease Control, 1989a). In states with comprehensive (kindergarten through 12th-grade) immunization requirements, between 61 and 90 percent of measles cases occur in persons who were "appropriately" vaccinated (Markowitz et al., 1989

3. The literature of measles treatment with Chinese medicine is voluminous. Similarly, homeopathic physicians have been treating measles and preventing complications over the past 200 years. Homeopathic textbooks devoted to pediatrics and infectious disease have extensive discussions of appropriate measles treatment. Much of this experience was accumulated prior to the advent of modern double blind clinical studies. And the the rarity of measles now does not lend itself to clinical studies of holistic methods. A complete discussion of the holistic treatment of measles is beyond the scope of this communication, but the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of these treatments is certainly accessible to practitioners of these disciplines.
 
#6 ·
I don't care to engage in this thread but it popped up in my feed. As an academic, I have to point out that all of your sources are very old - 1991 being the newest date of publication you cited. If you can re-write this using updated sources it would be far more valuable and useful to those of us who are trying to make sense of this vaccine debate. It is an important issue and I know there has been a great deal of research since 1991. Thank you!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top