Comments on: The myth of mild measles

By: Around the autism blogosphere October 18 2008 | Autism Library

Around the autism blogosphere October 18 2008 | Autism Library — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:03:51 +0000

[...] Journal Constitution on MMR and Autism, followed by a blog post. That gathered responses from LeftBrainRightBrain, with a followup discussion of one of EpiWonk’s own papers on the effectiveness of the Hib [...]

By: Sullivan

Sullivan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:20:03 +0000

Thanks for the correction!

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:53:08 +0000

Let’s scroll back to 1934. In a piece simply titled Measles, Time states:

New York City’s Health Commissioner Rice warned parents to beware of measles as a “very serious malady,” but assured them that this is not a “measles year” in New York. In the first ten weeks of last year the city had 9.562 cases and 44 deaths, against 413 cases and two deaths for the same period this year.

It wasn’t a “measles year”, as in, this wasn’t a big outbreak. Yet, 44 people died.

You’ve got this a bit wrong – the 44 deaths referred to “last year” though it it’s stated whether that was a “measles year” or not. The “not a “measles year”” quote refers to “this year” – but there were still 2 deaths. Which, had there been a vaccine, would have been completely preventable.

However, this is only a small nit-pick.

By: Autism Blog - Too many falsehoods, too often | Left Brain/Right Brain

Autism Blog - Too many falsehoods, too often | Left Brain/Right Brain — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:29:19 +0000

[...] are a number of falsehoods used in the vaccine-rejectionist arsenal. One, which we’ve discussed recently, is the idea that vaccine preventable diseases are in reality “not that bad.” Another [...]

By: anandamide

anandamide — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:43:37 +0000

Having a couple of older brothers, I caught measles as a baby – the doctor then decided (understandably) that vaccination was a bit pointless. Unfortunately, my immune system didn’t quite get the message, and at 7 I got infected again.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too ‘bad’ – I’m still here, 20 years later. But I’ll never forget the pain, or the weakness, or the frustration of being so starvingly hungry but unable to eat. I’ll never forget my parents’ carrying my ragdoll body into the car to take me to my GP, who pushed me in through the back door and helplessly confirmed the diagnosis. And I’ll never forget the fear in my parents’ faces.

When I was 14, the WHO predicted a possible measles outbreak in the UK; me and my peers were scheduled another vaccination. While my classmates got skittish about needles, I pushed my way to the front of the queue.

By: isles

isles — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:32:02 +0000

Don’t forget this famous and heartbreaking measles case report:

http://www.blacktriangle.org/blog/index.php?p=715

It’s by Roald Dahl, entitled Measles: A dangerous illness.

By: alyric

alyric — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:07:04 +0000

That’s a very fine post, Sully and the correct antidote to a lot of nonsense being spread about the real risks of vaccines and the diseases they prevent.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:06:11 +0000

Very well said.

If those folks were watching reruns of comedy shows they might need to stop and think a moment. Comedy is meant, in some cases, to bring levity to very serious situations the people of the time were dealing with. Even in some talk shows, humor can mask the serious issue.

Certainly I hope nobody really thinks that WWII POWs were as happy as those portrayed in Hogan’s Heroes, but yet there it was within about 20 years after that war had ended. And what about Don Quixote? Classic opera with humor relating to the diseases of aging. Then consider modern acknowledgement of the impact of dementia like conditions on the rest of the family.

By: maddox22

maddox22 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:51:58 +0000

The thing that really gets me about the “nutrition and sanitation” argument is Africa. These people really believe that good nutrition and sanitation—and not vaccination—are the reason that measles etc are not longer prevalent in the U.S., right? Have they never heard of vaccination programs in Africa (and in developing nations on other continents)? These are countries that have almost no nutritional or sanitary services—countries where millions of children die of diarrhea every year due to lack of sanitation, and millions more due to starvation—and yet, in the countries that have vaccine programs, almost NO kids get or die from vaccine-preventable illnesses. And yet these people still maintain that vaccines don’t prevent illnesses?!?

How thick-headed do you have to be to ignore evidence right in front of your face??

Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking about.

By: Catherina

Catherina — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:28:43 +0000

The SSPE rate is probably much higher than 1 in 100’000, as Bellini et al found in an analysis of SSPE cases after the 1989-91 epidemic in the US:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16235165

Stephan Arenz, a German epidemiologist, puts the incidence in children contracting measles under one year of age as high as 1 in 2’000.
S Arenz Kinderärztl Praxis 77:29-31 (2006)