9 confirmed measles cases in Vancouver, numbers could keep going up

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Unrelated to eBay, but this news makes me so mad and sad. Measles is preventable by vaccine, why aren't people vaccinating their children? Vaccination is a social responsibility, not just a personal choice. Not vaccinating your own children could kill other children. Please, protect others by vaccinating yourself and your children.

It was 8 cases yesterday and now 9. Thinking about how those numbers could keep climbing is very scary. I didn't have to worry about measles when I was a child, but now I'm worried about it even though I'm an adult with a supposedly strong enough immune system.

If there is anybody who doesn't believe in vaccine and refused vaccination by choice, please reply below. I'm more than happy to point you towards your public health unit and get in touch with them. I'm more than happy to remind you that newborn babies and people who are immuno compromised (such as cancer patients) need that herd immunity achieved by high vaccination compliance to survive.

Vaccines do NOT cause autism, and most modern childhood vaccines do NOT contain mercury. All those so-called "harmful" substances people are panicking about are all in our environment to begin with.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4968207/vancouver-measles-update-outbreak/amp/

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/index.html

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

If you have been to the BC Children's Hospital, especially if during the following dates and time, and started to feel ill, please contact the health authority ASAP.

Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed several days later by a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the body.

Jan. 21 — 10 a.m. to 6:10 p.m.
Jan. 23 — 4:45 p.m. to 11:10 p.m.
Jan. 24 — 8:13 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.
Feb. 1 — 2 p.m. to 6:55 p.m.

[femmefan1946]

At 72, I got the polio vaccine when it first came out.

Before that, every September, there would be missing children and wheelchairs in the schools.

By October, the chairs would be gone, because cripplies were not allowed to mix with the rest of us.

My aunt died of diptheria, preventable by vaccine.

My sister's boyfriend was deafened by mumps, preventable by vaccine. 

We were the last generation to have measles parties because our parents realized that it was "better" to have these diseases when we were young, than later in life. For mumps that meant before puberty for boys, if the parents ever wanted grandchildren.

As a side note, if you had chickenpox (the vaccine was not available until 1995) you should get a shingles vaccination when you turn 50 and repeat it as suggested. Shingles is the late adulthood form of chickenpox, and if you are near an unvaccinated child while the shingles are developing or active, you could infect her.

[ypdc_dennis]

For those in Ontario, free OHIP vaccine/immunization protection:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/immunization/static/immunization_tool.html

Just young enough to have dodged polio, which my, slighter older, sister-in-law did not.

Disease prevention is the better way.

-..-

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/father-vancouver-measles-outbreak-1.5022891

Apparently it's this family who chose not to give their kids MMR vaccines, traveled to Asia, kids got sick on their way back and spread to other kids at school. Hence the warning for people who went to BCCH above.

I have no words.

[momcqueen]

Have you given your children the MMR?

[pjcdn2005]

I'm going to guess that zee chan hasn't started a family yet although I could be wrong.

But your question made me curious if your children had been given the vaccine.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

I haven't started a family yet but I have received both MMR myself *twice*. I'm actually going to inquire my family doctor tomorrow about whether or not I can get a blood test done to make sure my immune system is still reactive to measles. I had quite a complicated disorder when I was a child and I had all my childhood vaccines repeated when I was a teenager because of it.

Thankfully I'm alive because there wasn't a measles outbreak 15+ years ago! I was very sick back then, needing frequent blood transfusions. Measles could have killed me back then.

So when I do have a family, I'll be giving them all of their scheduled immunizations. I'm more than happy to assist with providing info on vaccines if you have questions, Maureen.

[momcqueen]

Thank you, I don’t have questions. Only the experience of MMR vaccinations for my four children. It made each of my children sick for a straight week and each time dealing with sick infants I felt, like the parents in the newstory, this was unnecessary by combining three vaccines in one shot. This particular triple-threat vaccination may help to (and not guarantee) circumvent disease but it lacks compassion and empathy. It’s too easy for health care professionals to dole out treatments without experiences the sides effects themselves. I’m not anti-vaccine and neither is the father quoted in the story. In fact, he was forthcoming in revealing the lack of an MMR in his childrens’ case history but was assured by hospital staff at first that it wasn’t measles.

I try not to judge. If I were to start, there’d be no stopping me.

Try empathy.

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

I think it would be nice if the MMR can be separated into three vaccines, then perhaps there'd be an increased compliance in vaccinations. I do remember reading somewhere (I'll need to look for the source) that apparently the MMR is more effective combined, though.

As for the father in this story, he did note that initially he and his wife believed that MMR caused autism (!!), but they still chose not to immunize their children for MMR after finding that they don't cause autism. So in my not-so-humble opinion, it's negligence to society to not give their children MMR by choice. His kids are old enough to travel, so should be old enough to mentally understand why they need to get the vaccines and physically capable to withstand the discomfort from the vaccines.

And now we have other children infected with measles due to them bringing back measles from the southeast Asia. Measles can be deadly and cause pneumonia and permanent brain injury, so the benefit of the vaccine definitely outweighs the mild discomfort caused by the vaccination. I hope his kids will be okay, but if his kids do end up suffering permanent damage, no amount of regret will reverse that damage.

We're not hearing a lot from the BCCH's side of the story (it's a pretty "standard" response), but I'm not going to trust 100% what this father said. And really, in a developed country like Canada, we SHOULDN'T have to deal with measles so I wouldn't be surprised that the doctor didn't think it's measles in the first place and tried to rule out other diagnosis first.

How about have empathy for parents who have very sick newborns and children who have cancer? They cannot be vaccinated even though they want to protect themselves from deadly preventable diseases. I have a friend who's an ER nurse. Her husband is diagnosed with cancer and is on active chemotherapy. He can't even go to pick up his son from school in fear of coming in contact with children who might not be vaccinated and are disease carriers, especially with an actual measles outbreak right now.

This breaks my heart. It really does.