Measles used to cause 2.6 million deaths each year. It was close to being eradicated thanks to the measles vaccine, which the World Health Organization reports “prevented an estimated 21.1 million deaths” between 2000 to 2017. Globally, measles deaths had been reduced 80 percent, thanks to the vaccine.
Measles is “one of the world’s most contagious diseases.” It is airborne, and causes fever up to 104 or 105 degrees.
“Serious complications are more common in children under the age of 5, or adults over the age of 30,” the WHO reports. “The most serious complications include blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling), severe diarrhea and related dehydration, ear infections, or severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia.”
People who have the virus can spread it for days before they show any symptoms.
Long-term effects include permanent hearing loss and intellectual disabilities, according to the CDC. It can lead to pneumonia, which is “the most common cause of death from measles in young children.”
And yet, despite all the evidence that the vaccine saves millions of lives, science-denying Americans are joining together for, as some news outlets falsely describe, the “right” to not vaccinate their children.
Fear and ignorance lead to movements like this, and they are propelled by willful stupidity.
Currently, there are measles outbreaks in ten states across America, entirely because parents are refusing to vaccinate their children.
“Last month, a public health emergency was declared in Washington State, where there are 53 confirmed cases of the highly contagious viral disease,” NBC reports. “The CDC says the majority of the patients were not vaccinated.”
Among those spreading dangerous ignorance is Darla Shine, (photo, top, from her Twitter avatar,) who happens to be the spouse of a top Trump administration official. Former Fox News co-president Bill Shine is President Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, also known as the White House Director of Communications.
Darla Shine gained notoriety last year when it was revealed that in the late 2000’s she mocked military victims of sexual harassment when she hosted her own radio show.
Now Shine is getting more attention, thanks to remarks she made on social media advocating against vaccinating against “childhood diseases” including measles.
Here are some of the responses her dangerous and false claims elicited: