Anti Vaxx Megachurch Responsible for TX Measles Outbreak

[rward]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronom ... cines.html

(not broken because slate don't care)

In Texas, a (most likely now formerly) antivaccine mega-church is the epicenter of a measles outbreak that so far has infected 20 people.

The Eagle Mountain International Church is led by Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons, daughter of televangelist Kenneth Copeland (the church is part of his ministries). Pearsons claims she’s not antivax, but the church does promote faith healing, and in August Pearsons voiced concern over vaccinations and autism, a link which has been thoroughly debunked. Kenneth Copeland has promoted antivax and antiscience nonsense on his television show in the past (start at 20:10 into the video).

Apparently, the measles virus was introduced by a visitor to the church who had recently traveled overseas (a common way the virus gets into the population). All these measles cases are reported to have been in families that chose not to vaccinate, and all the children infected to have been home schooled (I’ll note that Texas law requires children attending public school to be vaccinated).

:angry-banghead:

[Koala]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/08/26/antivax_communities_get_measles_outbreaks_linked_to_denial_of_vaccines.html

(not broken because slate don't care)

:angry-banghead:

Yeah, how's that faith healing working for you now Eagle Mountain? I'm sure the sick kids really appreciate the fact their parents knew so much more than you know....doctors. Fucking Google medical degrees :angry-cussingblack:

I think we're going to see a lot more of this. *sigh*

[lizzielouwho]

All these measles cases are reported to have been in families that chose not to vaccinate, and all the children infected to have been home schooled (I’ll note that Texas law requires children attending public school to be vaccinated).

Texas law does require vaccines or a waiver. The waiver is very easy to get in TX. All you have to do is go on a website and put in a little info. Then the waiver is sent out and it has to be notarized before it is given to the school. They don't require proof of medical or religious objection.

I know the article states that the kids were home schooled, but TX makes it so easy to get around vaccines that its just a matter of time before we have an outbreak in public school here. We did have a whopping cough outbreak a few years ago, but that was mostly due to the vaccine booster not yet being required and many parents didn't even know it was a risk for older kids.

[DarkAnts]

I am happy all of the children that were infected were home schooled. Home schooling means that they are less likely to infect children (and adults) with compromised immune systems. Measles are highly contagious and can cause people to die. When will these people learn that vaccinations were developed for a reason?

[AuntCloud]

I swear I first read the title as "Anti Vaxx Meshuganers".

[rward]

Anti Vaxx bullshit makes me seriously ragey. My SIL is having a baby, so I got the TDaP booster on Friday. My arm still hurts and for about 12 hours, starting an hour after I got the vaccine, I felt icky- a little feverish and achy and tired. My coworker was going on and on about how vaccines make you sick and she wouldn't take a vaccine and I finally slammed my hand down on my desk and shouted, "I'd rather feel a little icky than KILL A NEWBORN BABY by giving it Whooping Cough! I guess you don't agree!"

Nobody's talking to me today.

[darareaksmey]

I cannot understand faith healing. If you are Christian, what is wrong with the belief that God has given us doctors and medical science to keep us well? Why must it be that God has to give some direct demonstration that he is greater than illness? To me, that implies a sad lack of faith.

[Dollypeeps]

Anti Vaxx bullshit makes me seriously ragey. My SIL is having a baby, so I got the TDaP booster on Friday. My arm still hurts and for about 12 hours, starting an hour after I got the vaccine, I felt icky- a little feverish and achy and tired. My coworker was going on and on about how vaccines make you sick and she wouldn't take a vaccine and I finally slammed my hand down on my desk and shouted, "I'd rather feel a little icky than KILL A NEWBORN BABY by giving it Whooping Cough! I guess you don't agree!"

Nobody's talking to me today.

Not that will bother you at all and well played :clap:

[Phoebe]

UGH. Antivaxxers make me stabby.

[flyawaystray]

I'm not anti-vax, but I am wary of some vaccines. Mostly the flu vax*, Gardasil and chicken pox (that vaccine didn't exists when I was a kid and I was just fine without it). Stuff like MMR, polio, etc are pretty damn necessary. And look what happens when people DON'T vaccinate against these diseases.

*I am allergic to some vaccinations (egg allergy), and have never had the flu vaccination because I am allergic, and I've had the flu only a handful amount of times. If you are immuno-comprised (HIV/AIDS, cancer, etc), pregnant or elderly, then it makes sense to have these vaccinations.

[countressrascal]

Anti Vaxx, without a medical condition are selfish and self centered people. Unless they go out in a bubble boy outfit they are putting everyone at risk. I am sure that during incubation period, about 5-7 days before outback, they were out and about so they were like Measle Mary to everyone that they came into contact with, not only people who got the measles but everyone that had contact with them. We all know that little children are little germ factories. In closing thank you again for putting people at a undue health risk because you are closed minded and listen to someone that has no background to consul you on this matter. :angry-banghead:

[browngrl]

Anti Vaxx bullshit makes me seriously ragey. My SIL is having a baby, so I got the TDaP booster on Friday. My arm still hurts and for about 12 hours, starting an hour after I got the vaccine, I felt icky- a little feverish and achy and tired. My coworker was going on and on about how vaccines make you sick and she wouldn't take a vaccine and I finally slammed my hand down on my desk and shouted, "I'd rather feel a little icky than KILL A NEWBORN BABY by giving it Whooping Cough! I guess you don't agree!"

Nobody's talking to me today.

Great response. Anti vax'ers make me inarticulate with rage. I can never come up with such a snappy retort (well I can but it is always about 30 minutes after the fact).

[Jana814]

Anti Vaxx bullshit makes me seriously ragey. My SIL is having a baby, so I got the TDaP booster on Friday. My arm still hurts and for about 12 hours, starting an hour after I got the vaccine, I felt icky- a little feverish and achy and tired. My coworker was going on and on about how vaccines make you sick and she wouldn't take a vaccine and I finally slammed my hand down on my desk and shouted, "I'd rather feel a little icky than KILL A NEWBORN BABY by giving it Whooping Cough! I guess you don't agree!"

Nobody's talking to me today.

Good for you!! I HATE SHOTS!! always have. However, I am greatful for them because I never had any of the diseases that can be prevented by shots.

[rward]

I'm not anti-vax, but I am wary of some vaccines. Mostly the flu vax*, Gardasil and chicken pox (that vaccine didn't exists when I was a kid and I was just fine without it). Stuff like MMR, polio, etc are pretty damn necessary. And look what happens when people DON'T vaccinate against these diseases.

*I am allergic to some vaccinations (egg allergy), and have never had the flu vaccination because I am allergic, and I've had the flu only a handful amount of times. If you are immuno-comprised (HIV/AIDS, cancer, etc), pregnant or elderly, then it makes sense to have these vaccinations.

Obvs, your egg allergy makes some vaxxes dangerous to you, but please don't act like chickenpox is a nothing disease. Everyone who had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. I have had shingles 4 times. (I'm 37.) I had it on my tongue. I cannot describe to you the pain of shingles. And I'm lucky. I did not end up with post herpetic neuralgia, a common complication of shingles. The pain becomes permanent with PHN, and treatments often don't work. Suicide is common for those with PHN.

As for guardisil, cervical cancer has become and entirely preventable disease. Why would you want to put anyone at risk of developing cancer when you can easily and safely prevent it?

The flu? The last time I had the flu, I was sick for 6 weeks and lost my job. 33,000 people die every year from the flu. Sure, you might just get sick for a week, but then you spread it to someone who is old, young or sick and they die.

[ems]

http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/20 ... -anti.html

Recently read this and it states things soo well.

Not breaking the link because I think author would be down with FJ..

[wtylcf]

Obvs, your egg allergy makes some vaxxes dangerous to you, but please don't act like chickenpox is a nothing disease. Everyone who had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. I have had shingles 4 times. (I'm 37.) I had it on my tongue. I cannot describe to you the pain of shingles. And I'm lucky. I did not end up with post herpetic neuralgia, a common complication of shingles. The pain becomes permanent with PHN, and treatments often don't work. Suicide is common for those with PHN.

As for guardisil, cervical cancer has become and entirely preventable disease. Why would you want to put anyone at risk of developing cancer when you can easily and safely prevent it?

The flu? The last time I had the flu, I was sick for 6 weeks and lost my job. 33,000 people die every year from the flu. Sure, you might just get sick for a week, but then you spread it to someone who is old, young or sick and they die.

Thank you. My significant other and his sister have both had shingles as well, and you don't want to dick around with treating it. luckily both cases were caught in the early treatment window, but both were in pain already. Even uncomplicated childhood chicken pox can lead to shingles, even for healthy adults in their 30s.

Also, I'm sorry you lost your job over the flu. That's awful.

[twinmama]

Ugh, mom of two 29 week preemies here and antivaxers pretty much terrify me. I wish they had to wear some kind of warning so I could keep my kids away from them. We did not let a single person visit us or our children their first year if they had not had a flu vax and a whooping cough vax. My MIL didn't see her grandchildren for months and months because she wouldn't get the damn shot, bc it made her feel a little sick last time she got it (not a bad reaction, not allergic, just a little sick).

This winter will be our first without preemie isolation and even though my kids are and always will be up to date on their vaccinations, I'm really nervous about people who skip them. I never want a child in the hospital for an extended stay again.

And the chicken pox vax... I got shingles (ON MY FACE, holy lord the pain and swelling) when my preemies were 10 months old and they both developed chicken pox. It wasn't bad on either of them, but I would have given anything for them to not have to suffer chicken pox at 10 months old!!!! A simple vaccination for me as a child would have prevented all of that (it didn't exist when I was a child unfortunately).

[flyawaystray]

Obvs, your egg allergy makes some vaxxes dangerous to you, but please don't act like chickenpox is a nothing disease. Everyone who had chickenpox is at risk for shingles. I have had shingles 4 times. (I'm 37.) I had it on my tongue. I cannot describe to you the pain of shingles. And I'm lucky. I did not end up with post herpetic neuralgia, a common complication of shingles. The pain becomes permanent with PHN, and treatments often don't work. Suicide is common for those with PHN.

As for guardisil, cervical cancer has become and entirely preventable disease. Why would you want to put anyone at risk of developing cancer when you can easily and safely prevent it?

The flu? The last time I had the flu, I was sick for 6 weeks and lost my job. 33,000 people die every year from the flu. Sure, you might just get sick for a week, but then you spread it to someone who is old, young or sick and they die.

I am aware of shingles. My boyfriend's mom had a shingle outbreak a few years ago.

I am not saying that the chicken pox isn't a big deal, I am saying that the vaccination for it did not exist when I was a child and I've done well so far. Nowadays, the vaccine comes grouped with MMR so if I had a child, they would get the vaccine.

I'm wary of Gardasil because it's relatively new, plain and simple. I would be wary of any new vaccine, though.

The flu....I am allergic to all flu shots/nasal spray/anything incubated in chicken eggs so obviously I cannot get the vaccine.

[doggie]

the sad part is I doubt this will change anyone in the churches mind.

[dpndetfarm]

I'm not anti-vax, but I am wary of some vaccines. Mostly the flu vax*, Gardasil and chicken pox (that vaccine didn't exists when I was a kid and I was just fine without it). Stuff like MMR, polio, etc are pretty damn necessary. And look what happens when people DON'T vaccinate against these diseases.

Interesting about the chickenpox vaccine. My mom was a kid when there was no polio vaccine. If you really read up on polio not that many kids get it and even fewer get the strain that cripples or kills them. Many people never knew they had it. However, when the vaccine came out the lines to get children vaccinated went out the door! My mom would have liked to be one of those kids. She is 74 now and suffers the effects of post polio syndrome as do her two cousins. They were the lucky ones.

Now think about chicken pox. It gets everybody. In fact it used to be that people would expose their children to another child who had it to get it over with. Especially since getting chicken pox as an adult is more dangerous. Most kids get it like you. But chicken pox can and does KILL. I was infected at age 3. I had it everywhere, in every orifice, on every bit of skin, in my mouth, ears, and eyes. They thought I would go blind. I was kept in a dark room in absolute quiet, too sick to itch. Can you imagine being so ill you don't scratch at your chickenpox? In a way chicken pox and polio are very similar. Most people don't get very sick at all, but you don't want to be the one who gets the massive hit. And you don't want to be the one who doesn't get the massive hit, but passes it on to another person who does. I have been getting cases of shingles since I was about 24. It's not fun.

Unfortunately my children got chicken pox about 1 year before the vaccine and they were lucky. When the HPV vaccine came out I brought my daughter in as soon as it was available. Could there have been some unknown effects as it was so new? Possibly (we haven't seen any), but I bet my mother would have been more than happy to line up for the polio vaccine before anyone else if she had the option.

Just something to think about.

[nokidsmom]

Great response. Anti vax'ers make me inarticulate with rage. I can never come up with such a snappy retort (well I can but it is always about 30 minutes after the fact).

Oh boy, does this bring back memories of how I had to seriously bite my tongue when my SIL choose not to vaccinate my niece and nephew all because of the "vaccines cause autism" nonsense. My MIL, who is a screaming hypochrondriac, convinced her. And when the kids were entering school, SIL somehow managed to get a waiver based on religious grounds (which was complete BS it was just a way to get around things) with the help of her mom's naprapath. Kids never got sick as far as I know but it was probably herd immunity that helped here.

[Palimpsest]

I'm tempted to send the links above to John Shrader.

Yes, there are rational reasons for some people deciding not to vaccinate. Specifically known allergies or when a person has a compromised immune system. This is a minority, and knee jerk anti-vaxx people who depend on herd immunity to keep their snowflakes safe piss me off.

Vaccinating/anti-vaccinating discussions can turn into peanut butter wars on FJ so I will gracefully step away from this thread now. :D

[flyawaystray]

IIRC, the chicken pox vaccine became available in 1995. I was born in the 80's so growing up, there was no vaccine. My niece got it as part of the MMR (now called MMRV). She did have febrile seizures shortly after the vaccination but she is fine now and continues to get all the vaccines she's supposed to have.

Like I said, since it comes bundled with MMR, I would let my child have it. It's quite possible I have just been lucky all these years and I HOPE I never get shingles.

[CelticGoddess]

What rward said! I would offer you a Gigi's cupcake, but I ate it. :D How about I just owe you a cupcake?

Seriously though, when I had chicken pox, I got it in my throat, and other places. And i have been luck that the only place i have gotten shingles is left waist.

[Sola]

I'm not anti-vax, but I am wary of some vaccines. Mostly the flu vax*, Gardasil and chicken pox (that vaccine didn't exists when I was a kid and I was just fine without it). Stuff like MMR, polio, etc are pretty damn necessary. And look what happens when people DON'T vaccinate against these diseases.

*I am allergic to some vaccinations (egg allergy), and have never had the flu vaccination because I am allergic, and I've had the flu only a handful amount of times. If you are immuno-comprised (HIV/AIDS, cancer, etc), pregnant or elderly, then it makes sense to have these vaccinations.

I caught chicken pox when I was 38 weeks pregnant, there was no vaccine then and I wasn't immune. I was seriously ill and my son, who was five days old when he contracted it, nearly died. Please vaccinate your children. I don't want them to go through what I went through.