Florida’s surgeon general is a doctor. Why doesn’t whatever organization accredits doctors in Florida take action against him for violating accepted standards of practice?
Texas has long been known as "The National Laboratory for Bad Government" (Molly Ivins). Florida wants to claim the title. How else can one interpret this level of lunacy?
Excellent summary of the danger measles poses in schools and to the broader community, and the importance of vaccination and following appropriate isolation procedures for the unvaccinated. Measles vaccines (now given as MMR) have proven to be VERY safe, and measles continues to be very dangerous.
Thank you. I am in Florida and have forwarded this to everyone I know with young children. It is too bad we can’t depend on our governor and his appointed surgeon general.
I have the notes my parents kept when I had the measles as a toddler (pre-vax era). Scary stuff, as there was an unrelenting fever. My father used to tell a story of holding me in cool water trying to get the fever to break. They were young parents, and understandably worried. I cannot understand those who would risk further harm in their children because of this man’s (a doctor!!) ignorant take.
I am 87 yeas old. In those olden days measles, mumps, chicken pox, and other childhood diseases were identified with a sign on the door of your house if a person in the home had the disease. I was too small to know what my folks did because I had all three diseases. Were they also quarantined??" I do not know. I just remember each contagious disease was designated with a different colored sign. With measles I walked downstairs to the kitchen in the night because I was so fevered that I thought I was a meat roast; I was so ill and delirious. I can still remember sitting on the kitchen chair when my mom came downstairs finding me there. At my age I can still remember that event and that feeling. A Supposedly one could have vision affected after having measles. I did require glasses; my folks did not get glasses until they were in their forties so maybe that is true. Eliminating these diseases has been a blessing. Younger people have no idea what it was like. And then there is polio. Kids had to play quiet games on porches each afternoon during the polio outbreak season. One of my classmates died. People who were in iron lungs were exhibited at fairs around the country. I guess that was for raising funds, but how horrible that had to be for that person. No dignity given at all. And today, people refuse to safeguard themselves and others. I cannot understand them.
We are already seeing what happens when community responsibility goes down with COVID. We failed to control it as much as we could have in the first several months and hardly anybody wears masks anymore. And the vaccination rate is incredibly low. Unless there's a sea change in our society, we really are doomed when an even more lethal virus emerges, which is only a matter of time.
The Surgeon General of FL has medical errors of commissioning in his letter in that he states people are contagious 4 days before *symptoms*. This is wrong. There is no asymptomatic contagious period in measles like flu or COVID. One is contagious (& symptomatic with fever, cough, conjunctivitis, runny nose) 4 days before *rash* onset.
He makes egregious omission errors of not even mentioning MMR that should be urgently encouraged. If given within 72 hrs post exposure it is considered protective enough that kids can return to school.
And he makes unethical information omissions about the dangers of measles disease yet leaving a potentially life threatening decision up to not fully informed parents.
Dereliction of duty to protect the health of Floridians and all who visit there.
Unfortunately, there are two interrelated issues here: far too many parents have bought into the anti-vaccination misinformation, and far too many of them believe that their kids won't get sick because "that doesn't happen any more". They have no understanding of herd immunity; they only know that kids don't catch those diseases, and don't understand (or don't care) that they are putting their kids at risk from communicable diseases, because they believe that the vaccine is more dangerous than the illness. Unfortunately, they're likely to find out the hard way - and even more unfortunately, they're likely to cause some medically fragile people (those for whom vaccination is less effective or ineffective) severe illness and, potentially, death, because the medically fragile rely on herd immunity, and that's rapidly fraying.
Indeed antivax has been a challenge for many years. The initial claims for the Covid vaccine which did not prove true strongly reinforced the movement and we who believe in vaccine need to accept that reality.
The chart of state vaccination rates is very interesting to me. There are all different types of states along the spectrum. I would be interested to know more about the campaigns or legislation in states with high rates and how they are different than those in states with lower rates.
Florida’s surgeon general is a doctor. Why doesn’t whatever organization accredits doctors in Florida take action against him for violating accepted standards of practice?
Texas has long been known as "The National Laboratory for Bad Government" (Molly Ivins). Florida wants to claim the title. How else can one interpret this level of lunacy?
Excellent summary of the danger measles poses in schools and to the broader community, and the importance of vaccination and following appropriate isolation procedures for the unvaccinated. Measles vaccines (now given as MMR) have proven to be VERY safe, and measles continues to be very dangerous.
Thank you. I am in Florida and have forwarded this to everyone I know with young children. It is too bad we can’t depend on our governor and his appointed surgeon general.
I have the notes my parents kept when I had the measles as a toddler (pre-vax era). Scary stuff, as there was an unrelenting fever. My father used to tell a story of holding me in cool water trying to get the fever to break. They were young parents, and understandably worried. I cannot understand those who would risk further harm in their children because of this man’s (a doctor!!) ignorant take.
So dangerous to ignore facts.
I am 87 yeas old. In those olden days measles, mumps, chicken pox, and other childhood diseases were identified with a sign on the door of your house if a person in the home had the disease. I was too small to know what my folks did because I had all three diseases. Were they also quarantined??" I do not know. I just remember each contagious disease was designated with a different colored sign. With measles I walked downstairs to the kitchen in the night because I was so fevered that I thought I was a meat roast; I was so ill and delirious. I can still remember sitting on the kitchen chair when my mom came downstairs finding me there. At my age I can still remember that event and that feeling. A Supposedly one could have vision affected after having measles. I did require glasses; my folks did not get glasses until they were in their forties so maybe that is true. Eliminating these diseases has been a blessing. Younger people have no idea what it was like. And then there is polio. Kids had to play quiet games on porches each afternoon during the polio outbreak season. One of my classmates died. People who were in iron lungs were exhibited at fairs around the country. I guess that was for raising funds, but how horrible that had to be for that person. No dignity given at all. And today, people refuse to safeguard themselves and others. I cannot understand them.
We are already seeing what happens when community responsibility goes down with COVID. We failed to control it as much as we could have in the first several months and hardly anybody wears masks anymore. And the vaccination rate is incredibly low. Unless there's a sea change in our society, we really are doomed when an even more lethal virus emerges, which is only a matter of time.
The Surgeon General of FL has medical errors of commissioning in his letter in that he states people are contagious 4 days before *symptoms*. This is wrong. There is no asymptomatic contagious period in measles like flu or COVID. One is contagious (& symptomatic with fever, cough, conjunctivitis, runny nose) 4 days before *rash* onset.
He makes egregious omission errors of not even mentioning MMR that should be urgently encouraged. If given within 72 hrs post exposure it is considered protective enough that kids can return to school.
And he makes unethical information omissions about the dangers of measles disease yet leaving a potentially life threatening decision up to not fully informed parents.
Dereliction of duty to protect the health of Floridians and all who visit there.
Unfortunately, there are two interrelated issues here: far too many parents have bought into the anti-vaccination misinformation, and far too many of them believe that their kids won't get sick because "that doesn't happen any more". They have no understanding of herd immunity; they only know that kids don't catch those diseases, and don't understand (or don't care) that they are putting their kids at risk from communicable diseases, because they believe that the vaccine is more dangerous than the illness. Unfortunately, they're likely to find out the hard way - and even more unfortunately, they're likely to cause some medically fragile people (those for whom vaccination is less effective or ineffective) severe illness and, potentially, death, because the medically fragile rely on herd immunity, and that's rapidly fraying.
As an Ob/Gyn, I’m concerned there is no mention of the risks to fetus if unvaccinated child brings home measles to pregnant family members.
I had measles as a 3 year old,and still remember how sick I felt. That Florida Dr. Should not be allowed to practise medicine!
Indeed antivax has been a challenge for many years. The initial claims for the Covid vaccine which did not prove true strongly reinforced the movement and we who believe in vaccine need to accept that reality.
The chart of state vaccination rates is very interesting to me. There are all different types of states along the spectrum. I would be interested to know more about the campaigns or legislation in states with high rates and how they are different than those in states with lower rates.
https://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/measles/index.html Seems the Polk County Florida Public Health department is standing up with current guidelines for Measles.
Hummm… The Surgeon General is clearly going against accepted standards of practice… Isn’t that malpractice?