179
Pennsylvania health officials brace themselves as measles outbreak expected to spread (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Most counties don’t have their own health agencies, and some specific population groups have low vaccination rates

Pennsylvania is bracing for a wave of measles cases, with some public health officials concerned that it’s “only a matter of time” until the disease spreads beyond the outbreak’s epicenter.

Last week the state reported its fifth measles-associated death amid 943 confirmed cases across 39 counties. The outbreak comes amid concerns that public health in the US has been hit by increasing vaccine skepticism, especially due to the power and influence of controversial health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Contributing to the challenge is that Pennsylvania is one of the few US states where its counties mostly lack their own health department, with only seven of its 67 counties having their own.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 1 point 10 hours ago (2 children)

I wasn't joking.

With no medical reason and a sample size of several million humans we're going to run an experiment that will end in a measurable amount of deaths from measles and there are no ethics guidelines. Without a population stupidly refusing to be vaccinated at all we won't have a good way of knowing what the death toll is.

Without all the dead kids contributing to the study there'd be no value in it at all since the executive order's effects can't start yet due to lack of an approved MMR vaccine and a legal hold up blocking the order. Since it takes two years for autism to show up after a kid is born, and since the executive order will likely be overturned in January 2029, we'll have just that small window to gather the necessary data.

Don't mistake my pragmatism for happiness.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •