UK Teenager Dies of Measles
June 20, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
A 17-year-old from West Yorkshire is the first person to die of measles in the UK in two years. He was admitted to a hospital in April with pneumonia, which he got after getting measles. More in today’s Telegraph, which notes that MMR vaccination coverage has been “sub-optimal” in the UK for the past ten years:
Because of the MMR scare in the late 1990s when the measles, mumps and rubella jab was linked to bowel disorders and autism, vaccinations levels have dropped below the threshold required to control the diseases. In London less than half of children have had the recommended two doses of MMR.
sounds like he died of pneumonia
thought you’d say that!
Measles is a respiratory virus.
Only half vaccinated? Wow, the Brits are smarter than Americans, damn!
Hello friends –
The other problem is that he got measles as a teenager; a situation unheard of in generations past. The fact is, you are much less likely to get measles now than in the past; but if you get measles now, you are much more likely to have problematic complications. This is an example of an unintended consequence of mass vaccination. I’m sure it is the only one though.
Also, once again we have a superb example of how ridiculous the fear mongering in regards to not ‘changing the schedule’ and the dire consequences of such. According to this site, less than one half of children are up to date on measles vaccinations in London; a city of seven million people. The result? One death in two years.
- pD
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Mum-tells-of-guilt-over.4206273.jp
Still waiting for someone to tell me which papers indexed at PubMed explain exactly how the MMR is riskier than measles, mumps and rubella.
Children who are well and in normal status for vitamins A, D, and protein – things GPs and pediatricians do not check – typically survive measles. This boy did not die because there is not enough measles vaccine being used. He died because of complications from an ordinary childhood illness, complications that are very unlikely in well nourished children. Doubtful that the back story will be told though, because if this boy was in such a state as a teen that measles could progress to pneumonia enough to fell him, somebody was not paying attention upstream (read: His GP). This is entirely preventable. But we have been misled to believe that vaccines are magic, harmless elixirs with the only capability on earth for preventing any and all infectious disease.
“This boy did not die because there is not enough measles vaccine being used. He died because of complications from an ordinary childhood illness, complications that are very unlikely in well nourished children”
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It is more likely that the boy died because he was immunocompromised from birth which precluded his own vaccination and made him more susceptible to complication. If you know anything about people with severe immunocompromise or suppressions (and I’m not talking internet hypochondriacs), there’s quite a lot more involved in protecting their health than getting a little more vitamin A& D. One of those things is avoiding active disease carriers.
Clay said “Children who are well and in normal status for vitamins A, D, and protein – things GPs and pediatricians do not check – typically survive measles. ”
Oh, you did not say that did you?
So those of us with children who have health impairments like that young man (an immune disorder), or a severe genetic heart condition like my son do not deserve to live? Or that these boys deserved their fate because they were not perfect:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1055533.ece
Well aren’t you a lovely little eugenicist. And don’t moan and groan with “I did not mean that!”. Who cares if you meant it or not, you actually wrote it down for all of us to see! You see, in your little head only “healthy” children exist… forget about all those kids with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, mitochondrial disorders, seizure disorders, cystic fibrosis, long-QT syndrome, and another long list of genetic conditions.