[Dave!]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...316130477.html

DR MUIRIS HOUSTON

Tue, May 15, 2012

THE LATEST outbreak of measles in the Republic has occurred in west Cork, the Health Service Executive said yesterday.

Twenty-five children, mainly teenagers aged 12-18, have been diagnosed with the viral illness in the last four weeks.

None of those infected had been immunised with the MMR vaccine, which protects against mumps, measles and rubella, public health doctors confirmed.

MMR immunisation rates here have still not recovered following discredited research in 1998 linking the vaccine with bowel disease and autism.

Dr Fiona Ryan, specialist in public health medicine at HSE South, said, “This outbreak is affecting children who are not vaccinated. Siblings of children with measles, if not vaccinated, are also recommended to stay out of school or childcare during the incubation period (usually about 14 days but may be up to 21 days), to ensure that they do not transmit infection to other children who may be too young for vaccination or be at increased risk due to other conditions.”

She urged parents of children who are not immunised to attend for vaccination.

MMR given to a child within 72 hours of exposure to measles may prevent the illness. The vaccine can prevent measles in more than 90 per cent of immunised children, following a single dose of the vaccine. With a second dose of MMR vaccine, more than 99 per cent of immunised children are protected from measles infection.

This vaccine is given free by family doctors to children aged 12-15 months, and a second dose is given at school entry. MMR vaccination is also recommended for children aged 11-12 years who have not received two previous doses of MMR.

Symptoms of measles develop nine to 11 days after becoming infected. The first symptoms include irritability, a runny nose, red eyes, a hacking cough and a fever. These symptoms may last up to eight days.

A skin rash, consisting of flat red or brown blotches, starts from day four. It usually starts on the forehead and spreads downwards over the face, neck and body and lasts from four to seven days.

About one in 20 of those infected will get pneumonia, one in 1,000 will get encephalitis (brain inflammation) and between one and two in 1,000 will die from measles.

The latest annual report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre showed a 149 per cent increase in measles cases in Ireland in 2010, with 403 cases notified compared with 162 cases in 2009.

About one-quarter of the 2010 cases required hospitalisation. Cases predominantly occurred in children who had not been vaccinated in what the surveillance centre said was a “worrying number of measles outbreaks in Ireland and Europe”.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported a recent measles outbreak in Ukraine, prompting a warning to soccer fans planning to travel there for next month’s European Championships to ensure they are fully immunised.

I didn't realise the Andrew Wakefield stuff had had an effect in Ireland too. Are our vaccination rates still low?

edit

Another article here

http://www.thejournal.ie/parents-urg...51367-May2012/

[Oryx]

This is in paranormal why??

[Dave!]

It's not, but it's relevant because the skeptical community is at constant battle with anti-vaccination proponents and peddlers of pseudoscience in general. It also mentions Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent study, which has been a hot topic on skeptical blogs, podcasts and forums for years.

Is this forum reserved for skeptical discussion of the paranormal only, or can it be used for discussion of general topics relevant to skeptics and the skeptical community?

[Monty Burnz]

Might be more suited to the Conspiracy Theories forum, as there are two CTs at work here:

1. Evil big medicine wants to kill your babies by injecting evil vaccines
2. MMR causes autism.

[Oryx]

Originally Posted by Dave!

Is this forum reserved for skeptical discussion of the paranormal only, or can it be used for discussion of general topics relevant to skeptics and the skeptical community?

Good question. I always figured it was for skepticism of a paranormal nature, seeing as it is a sub forum of paranormal, and arose as a need for a specific place away from the general paranormal forum.

Do you guys still have the Hosted forum or is that old hat?

[mcmoustache]

This is definitely more of a CT thing than a paranormal thing. The locals here aren't really that anti-vax. I think this thread might get a bit more traction in the CT forum.

[Dave!]

Depends if the purpose of this forum is to be narrowly defined as being skeptical of the paranormal, or for skeptical discussion in general. If you go onto any other skeptical forum, there'll be loads of vaccination-related topics, because it's a rather huge subject within that community. Seems a bit silly to limit the discussion here to specifically paranormal claims when there is scope to facilitate discussion of all skeptical topics.

I think the hosted forum is for the Irish Skeptics society. A lot of the topics covered here will be covered there too. I'm never sure which forum to be posting in between the two.

If I wanted to antagonise the crazies then I would have posted in CT. I was more looking for a skeptical discussion really, or to bring it to the attention of skeptics who might be interested. I could have posted in Health Science too probably. I've never seen a thread about vax in Paranormal.

[steddyeddy]

Originally Posted by Dave!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...316130477.html



I didn't realise the Andrew Wakefield stuff had had an effect in Ireland too. Are our vaccination rates still low?

edit

Another article here

http://www.thejournal.ie/parents-urg...51367-May2012/

Well I may fall out with some but this is the skeptic forum and its an important thread. Several hundred thousand children in the uk recieved these vaccinations and its a certain amount of papers who have stated that said vaccines have caused Autisim. Its very important to say that th tabloids (and the Daily mail) twisted the facts to make a story. The story was a young girl who recieved the vaccine started showing signs of severe autisim. The papers linked this with a vaccine.

In my humble opinion the papers were either lieing or twisting the truth. Yes a girl did indeed suffer from autisim post vaccine but if the papers asked one doctor they would have known that very few girls develop severe autisim irrespective of external events. The girl who the papers were referencing clearly had retts syndrome which is a form of autisim which only shows symptoms after the ages of four or five. That made it easy for the papers to say she developed it post vaccine!

This is a very very important thread for the skeptics forum, in fact it may be one of the most important. The skeptics forum to me is all about fighting belief systems. This belief system could damage children so in my eyes its extremely important. Thanks for bringing it up Dave.

[steddyeddy]

Originally Posted by mcmoustache

This is definitely more of a CT thing than a paranormal thing. The locals here aren't really that anti-vax. I think this thread might get a bit more traction in the CT forum.

Does skeptic mean anti paranormal? I dont think it does?

[PseudoFamous]

Originally Posted by Dave!

If I wanted to antagonise the crazies then I would have posted in CT.

"Crazies" have feelings too

[Coriolanus]

I was never mmr'd and I'm an eighties kid. The distrust predated the Wakefield incident by quite a bit.

[Monty Burnz]

Originally Posted by Coriolanus

I was never mmr'd and I'm an eighties kid. The distrust predated the Wakefield incident by quite a bit.

MMR vaccine may not have existed or have been rolled out when you were a kid.

[Dave!]

Up to 51 now

The HSE has urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated against measles following an outbreak in west Cork that has affected 51 children.

Assistant national director of health protection Dr Kevin Kelleher said two of those affected had been hospitalised, which showed how serious a measles infection could be, and the importance of vaccination to prevent unnecessary illness and the associated complications.

“Most of the children infected in Cork are teenagers and 88 per cent of cases have never received any dose of MMR vaccine. This large and rapidly spreading outbreak is a major concern not only to people in west Cork but for the whole of Ireland,” Dr Kelleher said.

Vaccination with MMR is the only way to protect against measles, he added.

“Failure to vaccinate leaves children exposed to a serious and potentially fatal disease. “But just as importantly, it exposes other children especially the most vulnerable babies under one year of age to this devastating disease.”

Children under one are those most likely to be liable to the severe complications and possibly death, Dr Kelleher said.

MMR vaccine is routinely provided at 12 months of age and again at preschool age (4-5 years of age.

The HSE said older children who did not get the vaccine at these ages needed to be vaccinated and that their parents should contact their GP.

Children younger than 13 years of age who missed out on the vaccine may still get it free of charge from their GP.

An administration fee may apply for older children and teenagers, but the vaccine itself is free.

MMR immunisation rates here have still not recovered following discredited research in 1998 linking the vaccine with bowel disease and autism.

[Coriolanus]

Originally Posted by Monty Burnz

MMR vaccine may not have existed or have been rolled out when you were a kid.

UCC has it listed as coming out in 88, so I missed it by two or three years. Funny really, I would have thought it had been around a lot longer than that.

[ShanePouch]

Originally Posted by Dave!

I was more looking for a skeptical discussion really, or to bring it to the attention of skeptics who might be interested. I could have posted in Health Science too probably. I've never seen a thread about vax in Paranormal.

In Ireland there has always been a suspicion of education and science, known as the invincible ignorance brigade. you can spot them quite easily because they usually tell you they "believe" in something or other or they "don't believe " in something or other.

For example, they might "believe" in homoeopathy, and not "believe" in vaccination. The invincible ignorance comes in because whatever evidence is available, they will hold their noses aloft and choose not to look at it, so convinced are they in their own invincible ignorance.

I'd also have to "believe" in homoeopathy because there is no evidence it works. I don't have to "believe" in paracetamol, because I know it works based on good evidence backed up by clinical trials. Likewise, I know vaccination works because of the plethora of evidence available, backed up by clinical trials.

Those who choose not to vaccinate themsleves, or their children, are at liberty to choose that route, but their decisions are flawed as we have seen by the results.