The following story might appear to be simply tragic … just one of those natural events that happens, but its not … its plain simple stupidly in action …
LOS ANGELES — State health officials reported Thursday that California is on track to break a 55-year record for whooping cough infections in an epidemic that has already claimed the lives of nine infants.
At least 4,017 cases of the highly contagious illness have been reported in California, according to the state. Data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control show 11,466 cases nationwide, though the federal numbers are known to lag behind local reporting.
Whooping cough is a cyclical illness that peaks in number of infections every five years. Symptoms are similar to the common cold, making it a challenge to diagnose, which in turn makes it difficult for officials to determine if the worst has passed, said Dr. Gil Chavez, an epidemiologist for the California Department of Public Health.
A persistent cough that lasts weeks is the tell-tale symptom of the illness, which is also known as pertussis.
The state is on track to exceed the record 4,949 cases reported in 1955. The bacterial infection tends to peak during summer months, but infections could continue into coming weeks, said Chavez.
The death rate for infants since 1955 has been zero … until now. So what has suddenly changed? The vaccines to prevent this are free, so its not recession strapped parents skipping this for their kids. No, instead what has happened here is that there has been a rising tide of misinformation that associates the risk of Autism with Vaccines, and because of this many parents have been opting out. Now, lets be 100% clear, the association between vaccines and autism has no scientific credibility at all, its complete bollocks and has been proven wrong time and time again, there is not one single shred of evidence or doubt, it is 100% safe.
Sadly there is a rather vocal anti-vax movement that has been responsible for the spread of misinformation.
Many parents forgo vaccines for their children because of concerns about autism, typically fueled by misinformation on the Internet, said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a University of California-San Diego professor and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The vaccines against whooping cough are free of the additive thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury that has been the subject of a long-running public debate about whether it can cause autism.
A federal ruling in March said there was no connection between autism and thimerosal.
“We need to remember that vaccines are probably the biggest reason that so few of us lose our children when they are young,” said Dr. Patricia Samuelson, speaking on behalf of the California Academy of Family Physicians. “They used to say in this country, ‘Don’t count your children until after they’ve had measles’ because so many would die.”
An Associated Press analysis found that 127 of the 7,174 public and private schools in California reported 2009 whooping cough immunization rates of 50 percent or less for kindergartners.
The Huffington Post: Read full article here …
Have you taken an anti-vax stance? If so that I do hope you are now bloody proud of yourself, for you now have a growing infant body count as the fruit of your efforts.