Commonsense best shot at avoiding measles epidemic
Catastrophes frequently arise from a collision of events and circumstances. The phrase is overused but describes that pileup of multiple occurrences that feed off each other and create a “perfect storm.”
That storm may be brewing now. A measles outbreak continues to grow in the United States at the same time as vaccine hesitancy and misinformation — itself an outgrowth of the cultural turmoil that arose during the covid pandemic — are increasing, vaccination rates are dipping, and a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy band leader, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been elevated to prominence.
Kennedy’s influence — including more than two decades of fear-mongering and misinformation around vaccines — would be harmful enough were he limited to his usual post as health and nutrition gadfly, but since his mandate from President Trump to “go wild on health,” Kennedy now has the reins of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, which in the past could be counted on for careful leadership and trustworthy information.
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Measles is an extremely contagious disease caused by a virus that typically produces a high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes and a rash that starts in the face and spreads to other parts of the body. The disease can result in hospitalization, brain swelling, pneumonia and death. Children under five and pregnant women are most at risk. This year, three deaths — two among children — have been reported in the U.S.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-commonsense-best-shot-at-avoiding-measles-epidemic/