<
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/18/hhs-is-fucking-up-americas-measles-elimination-status/>
"As we unfortunately have to keep reiterating, the current measles outbreak in
America is not going away. While we have suffered from outbreaks ranging from
mild to slightly worse than that since the disease was officially declared
eliminated in 2000 due to a concentrated vaccination effort, the current
outbreak is putting that elimination status at risk. We are four months into
the year and transmission cases have occurred, and are indeed trending upwards,
in each of those months. If we get 12 months of ongoing infections via
transmission, we lose the elimination status.
The cause of this is plain to see for everyone: MMR vaccination rates dropping
below 95% in certain geographies. Above that threshold, we all benefit from
herd immunity. Below that threshold we start to lose that herd immunity, which
puts at risk not only those who are unvaccinated by choice, but also those who
are unvaccinated as a result of immunodeficiency or who have not yet been
vaccinated due to age. It’s no surprise to see, then, that the vast majority of
the infected, the hospitalized, and the deceased are both unvaccinated and are
children. Add to all of this the unhappy fact that a measles infection carries
the risk of immune amnesia for a whole host of
other infectious diseases and
we have a recipe for a miserable healthcare meal being constructed as I type
this.
RFK Jr. had a heavy hand in getting us here. Before he was stupidly put in a
position of government healthcare oversight, he promoted all kinds of batshit
vaccine skepticism, helping spur on these lower vaccination rates. Now in
charge of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy’s inability to
be clear on the need for vaccination, and indeed his pushing of several other
theories about how to handle the outbreak, has resulted in government inaction.
Add to all of this the massive cuts in budgets and staff at HHS and we are
primed for yet another major health concern in a second consecutive Trump
presidency."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
