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Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

mercurynews.com

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Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#21

Post by burfog »

jonheller wrote: post #16
jriot wrote: post #10

Love seeing all the hate here. Pretty sure all of us grew-up in the era where we contracted chicken-pox. We took an oatmeal bath, spent a few days at home, and all was well again.

My sister was sick enough from chicken pox that her doctor told her to take aspirin. She died about a week later from Reye's Syndrome. So no, we were all not well again.

Blame that death on the doctor being unaware of problems with aspirin. (many decades ago?) Chickenpox barely had anything to do with the death; many ordinary illnesses would give the same result.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#22

Post by LitFan »

bm98 wrote: post #14
dannytip wrote: post #8

Theres a chickenpox vaccine? It's not part of the childhood vaccination program here in the UK.

Interesting - it's part of the routine childhood schedule in the US but not in the UK. From NHS: "Why isn't the chickenpox vaccination part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule?" https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccin...

Paraphrased: Herd immunity created by most people getting the chicken pox vaccine would make it less likely for people who did not get the vaccine to get chicken pox early in life, leaving them susceptible to contracting it later in life.

It sounds like those people should also get vaccinated, rather than not requiring anyone to be vaccinated.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#23

Post by r00fus »

There's no way we can reach these idiotic parents or help their unfortunate kids.

For those of us with sense, how can we find out if we happen to be in one of those "strongholds" and make sure our school district doesn't go that way? Are exemption% publicly listed?

I may not be able to stop someone endangering their kids and others nearby, but if I can stop it happening near me (or move away in worst case), I want to know.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#24

Post by happytoexplain »

jriot wrote: post #10

Love seeing all the hate here. Pretty sure all of us grew-up in the era where we contracted chicken-pox. We took an oatmeal bath, spent a few days at home, and all was well again.

That's a dangerous oversimplification and dismissal of reality. It's also unclear what you mean by "love seeing all the hate here." You should elaborate, rather than insult.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#25

Post by danw1979 »

meanwhile in the UK we have actual chickenpox parties to try and spread the infection to as many children as possible while they are still young enough that it doesn’t cause the complications it does when you reach adulthood...

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/...

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#26

Post by orev »

danw1979 wrote: post #25

meanwhile in the UK we have actual chickenpox parties to try and spread the infection to as many children as possible while they are still young enough that it doesn’t cause the complications it does when you reach adulthood... https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/...

It was the same in the US until the vaccine came out. Seems these parents aren’t only dumb enough the be anti-vaxxers, they’re also dumb enough to not even do the things everyone did before the vaccine existed.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#27

Post by bogle »

burfog wrote: post #19
bogle wrote: post #7

A little info for any carers of children with chickenpox. The scabs can allow skin bacteria to infect the child. This may present as a swelling around the scab. It can become life threatening as it can quickly progress to septicaemia (sepsis) in a matter of hours. It's rare enough that Accident & Emergency may not recognise it as they'll only have a handful of cases in a year in a middle-sized city. There could be a…

That has essentially nothing to do with chickenpox. Suppose the kid skins his knee. The scabs can allow skin bacteria to infect the child. This may present as a swelling around the scab. It can become life threatening as it can quickly progress to septicaemia (sepsis) in a matter of hours. Yep. Same with mosquito bites, paper cuts, and slivers. You could DIE!!!!! Well, you could. You really could.

Think about: (a) the number of wounds, (b) the age of the child and (c) that they are already ill. Also consider the very serious consequences (death). That increase in the hazard and the potential for serious illness is what makes this a real risk.

In the UK we don't find it economic to vaccinate the whole population for chickenpox but if it's an option to pay for it then it would be sensible.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#28

Post by bogle »

jriot wrote: post #10

Love seeing all the hate here. Pretty sure all of us grew-up in the era where we contracted chicken-pox. We took an oatmeal bath, spent a few days at home, and all was well again.

You should read all the way through the article, or read it again. The death toll is quite clearly stated.

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#29

Post by bogle »

burfog wrote: post #21
jonheller wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sister was sick enough from chicken pox that her doctor told her to take aspirin. She died about a week later from Reye's Syndrome. So no, we were all not well again.

Blame that death on the doctor being unaware of problems with aspirin. (many decades ago?) Chickenpox barely had anything to do with the death; many ordinary illnesses would give the same result.

A quick check of what Reye's Syndrome was would have told you that it is both associated with chickenpox and the first paper to make the link to aspirin was in 1989 (add time for that information to be fully understood and disseminated).

Re: Anti-vaccination stronghold hit with worst chickenpox outbreak in decades

#30

Post by CodeTheInternet »

lentil_soup wrote: post #17
berbec wrote: post #5

It's sad that people look at this and just say "silly anti-vaxxers". The proper response is "How can parents get with endangering the lives of their own and their neighbor's children?"

or even further, "what is making these parents make the choice to not vaccinate children?". Is it education? is it distrust of the system?

"religious immunisation exemptions"

God, apparently.

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