Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science

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Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/03/florida-measles-outbreak-preventable



Richard Luscombe in Miami

The state is in the grip of a measles outbreak, yet Joseph Ladapo, the surgeon general, continues to ignore medical science to stop it

Last modified on Sun 3 Mar 2024 08.03 EST

Shortly before Joseph Ladapo was sworn in as Florida’s surgeon general in 2022, the New Yorker ran a short column welcoming the vaccine-skeptic doctor to his new role, and highlighting his advocacy for the use of leeches in public health.

It was satire of course, a teasing of the Harvard-educated physician for his unorthodox medical views, which include a steadfast belief that life-saving Covid shots are the work of the devil, and that opening a window is the preferred treatment for the inhalation of toxic fumes from gas stoves.
man in a suit speaks at a podium, with people behind him

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But now, with an entirely preventable outbreak of measles spreading across Florida, medical experts are questioning if quackery really has become official health policy in the nation’s third most-populous state.

“The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis’s lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say,” said Dr Robert Speth, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at south Florida’s Nova Southeastern University with more than four decades of research experience.

“His statements are more political than medical and that’s a horrible disservice to the citizens of Florida. He’s somebody whose job is to protect public health, and he’s doing the exact opposite.”................

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‘Not a disease you want to relive’: why is the US seeing outbreaks of measles?

Experts sound alarm after children in two states infected with disease and state official tells parents to ignore CDC advice

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/25/us-measles-outbreak

@Jessica Glenza Sun 25 Feb 2024 08.02 EST
...............

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“It’s a worrisome disease for a number of reasons, so I’m worried,” said Dr Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Chop). Offit is also the recent author of Tell Me When It’s Over: An Insider’s Guide to Deciphering Covid Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World.

Side effects from the measles vaccine are rare, usually transient and not serious. The disease itself, however, can have very serious consequences, including rare neurological infections and death. Roughly one to two children per 1,000 infected will die of the disease or its complications, according to the CDC. In rare cases, serious conditions can emerge years later.

Describing measles symptoms, Offit said: “the rash starts at the hairline and spreads to the face … It’s like you sort of had a bucket of rash poured on your head,” which spreads down the body.

“It’s invariably associated with cough, conjunctivitis and runny nose,” Offit said, adding, “and kids are sick – they look sick, they’re miserable.”

A child of the 1950s, Offit was infected with measles himself (the first vaccine was introduced in 1963), and has personally treated cases of neurological devastation related to measles infections...............................

[JohnSJ]

1. Ladapo Should lose his medical license

[hatrack]

8. He needs to go the way of Andrew Wakefield.

"First, do no harm . . . to my career and political ambitions."

[JohnSJ]

10. Yup

[ShazzieB]

33. Absolutely!

[peppertree]

34. To think Repugs liked to call Obama a "witch doctor" (racist memes included) over Obamacare

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2024, 01:48 PM - Edit history (1)

And now that they have a bonafide one, "he's doing God's work."

Talk about gummints only being as good as their people.

[SouthernDem4ever]

47. Absolutely.

Harvard must be embarrassed.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

2. Wherever republican'ts go they make a shithole. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

3. For a State full of Seniors, this is not a good trend.

From, "Florida, God's waiting room" to "Florida, where Seniors come to die...sooner than expected."

[RKP5637]

6. Yeah, and BYOB now means "Bring Your Own Box" to go home in.

[tanyev]

7. Yes. Also not a good trend for a state whose #1 industry is tourism.

[lark]

12. I really hope the vaccines we received as children hold their effectiveness forever.

Back then everyone received the vaccine or was not allowed into school until they did. Still should be the same - this is just pure lunacy.

[yellowdogintexas]

16. My sister had the MMR vax in 1962 or thereabouts when she was maybe 18 months old

She is 63 now and has never had measles or Rubella, so I think it is lifelong. She did have chickenpox and a few years ago suffered a roaring case of shingles. I have also had shingles but mine was quite mild.
She also had "Fifth Disease" which is quite mild and has no vaccine. The rash looks like the face has been slapped hard. It is a solid rash rather than spotted, and is mostly on the cheeks. When my daughter had it, the doctor told us that if a child gets to age 4 or 5 without having it, he/she won't get it. I think she was 3 at the time.

My other sister and I never had Fifth.

[yellowdogintexas]

18. the health department brought the vaccines to us.

We went to the cafeteria and lined up for the shots. Our doctor kept us on top of all vaccines, so I refused to take them. The principal called my mom to confirm that I had been given whatever it was that we were supposed to get. I did not have to take them.

I suspect it was the polio booster. (this was before sugar cube for polio)

Our doctor even gave us Typhoid shots every 2 years because we had a well and were out in the country. There are lots of sinkholes, and back then you never knew what might have fallen or been thrown into a sinkhole that was upstream from your well.!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

64. Anyone who refuses the vaccine should be excluded from public school.

[Farmer-Rick]

17. Probably most of those seniors

Were required by state and federal law to get measles vaccine before being allowed into school. And there was no real anti-vaxxers or legal home schooling back then.

So most those seniors are probably safe from measles anyway. It's the chicken pox/shingles, Hib, COVID and Hepatitis A & B that can easily run amock in Senior facilities. Hopefully a lot of them aren't anti-vaxxers and have made the effort to get the newer vaccines.

It's the children and babies of anti-vaxxers that are most at risk of dying. Those children don't get to decide.

My step daughter and her husband are anti-vaxxers. But the weird things is both of them had all their vaccines. They had parents who made them get their shots. And these anti-vaxxers, with all their required vaccines except for the newest ones, are perfectly fine. But they don't allow their own children the same protections.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. they probably had the diseases if they are over 60.

I was 14 when the MMR was available and by then I had already suffered all of them, as well as chickenpox.

For so long the only vaccines available were smallpox, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough and polio (after 1955).

[Farmer-Rick]

23. Oh wow, you really went through the wringer

That sounds like a very painful childhood.

I had some of my shots later, I think in 6 or 7th grade? My parents were big on getting vaccines the minute they came out, even if one of us had had the illness already.

I only caught the chicken pox as a kid.

[jpak]

27. I got bit by a bear when I was 4 YO

The tetanus shot hurt more more than the bear.

Yup

[slightlv]

37. I'm with you!

I went thru measles, chickenpox, and about everything else that hit the school. At one point both myself and my brother had the measles and my little sister had whooping cough and something else that turned her face red as a beet. I don't know how my mom lived through us. My sis was only a baby at the time.

Personally, these antivaxxers should be up on child abuse charges afaic. My uncle had rubella as a child and it left him mentally retarded.

I think once a state hits a certain percentage of infections a quarantine should be placed on the state. If they want to go back to the old days of no vaccine, then they should abide by the bad old laws that went with it. But I really have heartburn with these stupid parents. If they want to take a chance of killing their own kids, we can't stop them. But we don't have to let them start a pandemic throughout the rest of the country. Imo

[Backseat Driver]

40. Your sister might have also had viral Fifth disease caused by Parvo B19 or roseola from a herpes virus.

Read more about these "childhood" illnesses here: https://www.healthline.com/health/fifth-disease#outlook

[slightlv]

53. I think it was roseola...

The name was on the tip of my tongue, but wouldn't make it out to reality! (LOL) And my Uncle had the German Measles... the more serious type. I'm only 69 now... this is like ancient memories for me! But some things, like all 3 of us kids sick at the same time, are burned into my memory. So is missing the class spring picnic when I was in 5th grade because I had chickenpox!

[Backseat Driver]

38. Vaccine stories: I'm that old. Younger sib(s) and I suffered through measles (for which the local government came

and put a quarantine sign on the front door); and Dad had to prove he had had it to go to work; mom was a SAH so no problem. We had to keep the shades drawn so as to prevent blindness. I also had the German measles and the chicken pox that left a few scars despite taking baking soda baths to dry up the itchy lesions of the rash. Don't think I ever have had the whooping cough. I had to get a smallpox vaccine and recall being told not to scratch because it would transfer the vaccine to another spot and I'd have more than one dime to quarter size scars on my arm or elsewhere. Also, my mother's first smallpox vaccine didn't take and she had to get a second shot that left her deep scar as proof. My kids got the vaccines required for school, but were not required to get the smallpox vaccine; it had already been globally eradicated. They did have the chicken pox. I received the injected polio shot but recall standing in line with family in the elementary school gym for the oral sugar cube polio vaccine. My dad had diptheria as a child; there's some weird story about him being saved by eating potatos that had been sprayed with DDT, so his case was light and it didn't kill him during a large outbreak in Massachusetts. My would-be uncle died of streptoccocal meningitis when he was about 2 years old--curing or prophylactic anti-biotic (Fleming first used the purified penicillin to treat streptococcal meningitis in 1942.) weren't yet available. My doctor actually made a house call to give me a butt shot of it for something when I was a kid...it hurt for a week. My maternal grandfather never came home from Europe in WWII--bullet and/or pneumonia. My dad served in the Pacific (Phillipines/Papua New Guinea) so he and DH got all the multi-vaccines they gave to the enlisted/drafted and likely jungle/VietNam bound troops as were then available.

DH and I cleaned, isolated, and masked as recommended as best as possible (he was an "essential" worker) and are fully vaxed and boosted for the various strains of COVID. ..knock on wood--despite likely exposure, neither of us has ever tested positive.

Yes, we are that old and grateful to have received the benefits of vaccines and antibiotics.

[slightlv]

54. Hard to believe the United States population

was actually *smarter* back then! We paid attention to science and to doctors... and mixed that with old world cures, where appropriate. I can still remember my great grandmother (who was full Irish) telling me to wipe a wart on my finger with a dirty washrag, and then bury it out in yard under a full moon. My great grandmother's advice would be the only type of advice the magas would follow these days!!!

[LisaM]

35. I am not an anti-vaxxer but shingles was just not on my radar.

Big mistake, a couple of months into the pandemic I felt a strange prickling on my face. By the time I suspected shingles and wanted to get it looked at my healthcare facility wouldn't let me in because I mentioned a headache as a symptom (I actually said that yes, I had head pain, not a typical headache but they still would let me come, though I later received an apology for this since it clearly wasn't COVID). So by the time I got treated, it was a raging case, I almost had eye damage, and I still have facial neuralgia.

So if you haven't gotten the shingles shot, do me a favor and get it now, for me. I've gotten at least 15 people to get it and would like to see that number rise.

[Farmer-Rick]

65. Yes.

So sorry you suffered through such a painful disease. I watch my spouse suffer thru shingles. It was horrible. We tried everything to relieve the pain.

Shingles is the most common cause of suicide due to pain.

I got my shingles vaccine as soon as I met the age requirement.

[mgardener]

68. My aunt had lung cancer

And developed shingles.
They had to discontinue treatments and she died shortly after.
I got my shingles vaccine right after.

[tulipsandroses]

36. This is the peculiar thing to me, The anti vaxxer I know, had vaccines as a kid

Did not have any side effects from the vaccines, but still believes this nonsense. When I mention it, he says, you don’t know what it’s doing inside of you. Meanwhile, this person smokes cigarettes. Go figure!

It’s a weird world.

[generalbetrayus]

66. Maybe this person did have side effects from the vaccines.

Maybe they made him stupid.

[ShazzieB]

39. A lot of those seniors never had the MMR vaccine, due to it not existing whn we were kids.

I'm 73, and the MMR vaccine was still years away when I was growing up. The FDA approved the MMR vaccine in 1971, and it eventually became mandatory for school attendance, but people like me who were past school age by then never got it. But we also didn't need it because most of us had measles and rubella as kids, giving us lifelong immunity to both. (Mumps was less common, but also less contagious.)

As GenX ages and the Baby Boomer cohort gradually dies out, I wouldn't be surprised to see immunity to measles and rubella become a greater concern for seniors, but we're not there yet.

[BonnieJW]

42. Of course,

most seniors have had measles

[SouthernDem4ever]

48. Measles will affect the children more- most of the seniors are probably immuned

So they'll keep voting for assholes like DeSantis who can put assholes in charge of everyone's well-being.

[RKP5637]

4. Clearly gov. DeSantis's kind of guy. No land of "fun in the sun," it's now "Land of Disease!" Take your pick ...

measles, covid, fun in The Villages with STDs. And more.

[marybourg]

5. Infants who caught measles usually died.

Probably now they could be saved, but why subject our population to that?

[Baitball Blogger]

9. We so do not expect death from measles, that even one casualty is one too many.

That's what I hate about Republican policies. Someone has to die before people wake up and fight against them.

[lark]

11. I had a 105 degree fever from the German measles - before there was a vaccine.

I am permanently extremely near sighted (almost legally blind) because it settled in my eyes. I remember lining up in school to get the sugar cube doses of the vaccine. This stuff is not benign and Lapado and Death Sentence are nothing more than destroyers and potential murderers. Hate the leaders of my state!!!

[yellowdogintexas]

15. my German measles (also known as rubella or the "3 day" measles) was fairly mild

Huge rash, but not much fever and mostly just whipped. Done in 3 days.

The two week measles however were killer. Rubeola is the measles virus and it is awful. Measles is respiratory; Rubella is mostly lymphatic. And yes, I just learned that when looking up stuff to be sure I was right!!!

I had them almost back to back. Measles, where I was very sick for 5 days and gradually better after another 5 in March or April (it was Easter). The German measles came on in June, right after school was out. Very mild, back to normal in 3 days.

The bad thing about Rubella/German measles is its impact on pregnant women during the first trimester, as it can cause significant birth defects.

An excellent link ( scroll down for a complete rundown on all the 'childhood' diseases)

https://www.medicinenet.com/are_rubella_and_german_measles_the_same_thing/article.htm

[dflprincess]

63. The sickest I have ever been in my life was with "regular" measles

The pediatrician considered putting me in the hospital but backed off because he was concerned about exposing other kids to measles. Instead, he made house calls for several days. They were blamed for my needing glasses (though my prescription was never too strong) and it was thought they caused my cousin's hearing loss in one ear.

My rubella, on the other hand was just as you describe.

What I notice about many of these people who aren't vaccinating their kids is, they had parents who got them vaccinated. They never knew the "joy" of all the childhood illnesses and have no clue about how dangerous they can be.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. I had a nasty case of measles at age 9 in 1957. The sickest I ever was

from a so called childhood disease.

Raging fever for several hours; our doctor was 25 miles away and on the phone with my folks every 30 minutes. After a couple of hours of ice baths, alcohol rubs, and aspirin, he told them if it wasn't down in another 30 minutes to meet him at the hospital. Well it broke before he called back and the rash started to bloom. Fever was hovering around 104 & my mom said I was delerious the whole time.

Ten days before I really felt human again. I had to stay in a dimly lit room, couldn't read because of that.

I would not wish measles on my worst enemy

[Danascot]

49. Wow

that sounds truly awful. I had no idea.

[jpak]

56. I got the measles on Thanksgiving day when I was 8

No turkey for me and I was quarantined until I got better.

Sucked

Yup

[paleotn]

14. At this rate, they won't be the 3rd most populous state for long.

Soon we'll be asking not how many children someone has but how many lived to adulthood. 18th century. Fabulous.

Also shows that some, no matter how well educated, will literally shit themselves for money and position.

[aeromanKC]

19. Zero thoughts and prayers.

[AZLD4Candidate]

28. You elect Republicans, you get Republican policies.

[sop]

20. "The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis's lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say."

Let's not forget DeSantis is completely responsible for all the batshit crazy policies and insane laws being passed in Florida.

[rubbersole]

31. Or his paymasters.

He was our representative (district 6) before he was governor. Piece of shit then, piece of shit now. A very dangerous piece of shit is more accurate.

[panfluteman]

22. Vaccines Aside, Florida is Also Threatened in No Small Measure by Global Climate Change,

Which enables formerly tropical diseases like Dengue to migrate northwards. Hey, Donnie - there's another form of "migrant crime" for you!

[turbinetree]

24. SO has the media gotten around to ask this sick fuck........did you or did you not have "all" of your

vaccination shots to get into grammar, middle and high school and then they can ask that sick fuck maybe they can get around and ask that sick fuck governor and his wife if they got vaccination shots when they were tykes getting ready to go to school....they had to have gotten their shots no if's or and's about it .......and my wife's family wants us to move to that state becasue her parents are declining in their years ............fuck that........

[calimary]

25. Vote for an idiot and what you'll get is idiocy.

[surfered]

26. The truly sad thing...

...it doesn't improve the gene pool as the children are the ones who will die. It would be different if the ignorant adults got the disease and died.

[PortTack]

29. Qualifies for a ""shit hole" state?

[ShazzieB]

41. By my definition, DeathSantis has officially turned Florida into one.

Sorry, Floridians, but that's how it looks to me at the moment.

[PortTack]

67. It's just so sad! Little boots..cares nothing for the ppl of FL. The latest being the measles outbreak!

[ShazzieB]

70. I suspect he's a sociopath, like TSF.

No conscience, no empathy, no capacity to care about others at all.

TSF is way worse, of course, because he's an extreme narcissist as well, but they do have the sociopathy in common.

[orangecrush]

30. OK this is bullshit

Make the vaccination mandatory and put the fuckers in jail who refuse it.

Before we have another pandemic.

[JoseBalow]

45. or seal the border and set the place on fire

[orangecrush]

60. +1

[markodochartaigh]

32. "...his advocacy for the use of leeches..."

I'm all for satire, but leeches actually do have a role in modern health care. As an RN I had a number of patients who had finger reattachments. In the days after surgery it is vital to keep blood from pooling in the reattached digit, and the newly reattached veins are not yet sufficiently able to carry away all the blood brought by the newly reattached arteries. So leeches are attached to the finger to suck out the extra blood. It is also necessary to keep the limb extra warm to improve circulation. A warm puffy air pillow is used around the arm for that. Often the leech prefers the warmth to the food and trying to find a wandering leech is more difficult than it seems, leeches can move pretty quickly.

[SouthernDem4ever]

43. Florida voters that put those morons in office are to blame

and they probably don't even care.

[JoseBalow]

44. Apparently this is what the voters in Florida want

Enjoy your sinking disease-ridden dystopian hellhole, trumpturds!

[Marcuse]

46. No problem. The mortality rate is only .003.

?_=20173

[wolfie001]

50. Remember when DeShitStain sent that squad of state troopers....

....to that brave lady's house with guns drawn because she was trying (like hell and back) to compile ACCURATE COVID COUNTS?!!! That greasy, slimy mudderfucker. That is all.

[Evolve Dammit]

57. Great point. Largely forgotten and under publicized

[wolfie001]

62. Thank you!

[dutch777]

51. Pity the children. And if you can find any leaches, send them to the FL Surgeon General for god's sake!

While certainly FL governance gets ample blame in this but parents have a big role to play too. I wonder how many FL pediatricians may be of the same ilk as the Surgeon General?

[mgardener]

52. A family member in law was diagnosed with TB

She has not been out of the country.
And she lives in Florida.

[keithbvadu2]

55. It's the devil,I tells ya. He's testing your faith. Of course he's betting with your soul, no risk on him.

Pray HARDER!!!

???

[Evolve Dammit]

58. What a shithole state. Magat Lardo and Death Sentence DeSatan. Ivy grads.

[mbusby]

59. Had Polio when I was a year and a half old...

...and then had chicken pox and two weeks latter measles while in Elementary school.

Yes, rubbing dirt on it will not help.

[LittleGirl]

61. My friend contracted

Diphtheria! Over the holiday break, she visited friends with young children who were unvaccinated. This was in Switzerland and she’s still recovering from it. She also had a severe reaction to the covid vaccine on the third shot and can’t take anymore boosters.

People! Vaccinate your kids !

[Best_man23]

69. Ladapo is chairing the MILGA movement

MILGA = Make Iron Lungs Great Again.