Some readers took me to task last week for daring to question the anti-vaxxers. How quickly we forget our past. Take a look at these newspaper articles from nearly 100 years ago. Mississippi had over 6,000 Measles cases in one month alone although there were other months were only a few hundred cases developed. To say Measles was a scourge was an understatement.
This report was published in the March 23, 1928 edition of the Clarion-Ledger. Look at how many cases of Measles were diagnosed in Mississippi in one month: 6,382. Schools would actually shut down for days or weeks at a time due to outbreaks of measles and flu. Imagine what would happen on Facebook if we had that many cases in one month today. Meltdown wouldn't be the word for it.
The germs weren't too kind to Mississippi in April either:
Here are some other reports:
 |
| 1926 |
 |
| 1928 |
Mississippi didn't suffer from such outbreaks very month. This report was published in 1925:
However, this gives readers a better idea of what our grandparents and great-grandparents faced 90 years ago.
18 comments:
Thank you for this. Stats like this are just so inconvenient to those who listen to celebrities and hocus-pocus 'physicians'.
Did they have AC back then Fish, good grief, this is not 100 years ago. Talk about anything and reference articles from 100 years ago and shit is different.
Go die in the ditch on something else.
10:26 Go find another blog and post your stupid comments. Most of the JJ readers are smart enough to realize that things are different then they were 100 years ago. You are not.
The evidence shows not vaccinating your children poses a risk to them and to the public. Just like a 100 years ago there are still stupid people who ignore the science. Not getting vaccines for kids is the equivalent of treating a cancer patient with lemon rinds and red bull.
Ah... 1928 when the Clarion-Ledger reported on facts- not feelings. AND when they could be considered a plausible source.
Good to know those days once existed.
Please note that the newspaper clipping is 100 years old.
Things have changed for most people in that time span.
Many things have changed in one hundred years, but communicable disease has not. Germs are transferred every day between people, and particularly between children. The current measles is as bad as the "old" measles. We are not talking about air conditioning and computers, we are talking about disease and infection.
Wow, I had no idea that malaria had ever been a problem here. I'm nearly 50 but obviously blissfully ignorant of how things were before vaccines became widely used.
My employees have to get a series of shots (including malaria) before traveling to Mexico, South America, and other regions.
In today's global economy, there is a LOT of back-and-forth between countries now that simply wasn't occurring when this article was written. Unfortunately, many, many countries still have BIG problems with diseases that we had virtually eliminated here.
Today's global economy makes vaccines MORE important, not less.
I can't believe that there are parents who foist this risk on their kids, all because of internet hysteria with no basis in fact or science. The risks of these diseases are very real.
"Did they have AC back then Fish, good grief, this is not 100 years ago. Talk about anything and reference articles from 100 years ago and shit is different."
No, they didn't have air conditioning, but, what does that have to do with anything? Measles is spread by close contact. People actually spend more time in close contact today than then. Kids spent more time outside. Now they stay mostly indoors. The disease itself is the same, and the only real difference is that we have an effective vaccine, they didn't. So, yes, looking at disease impact and spread before vaccination is very significant when looking at what would happen if people don't vaccinate today. Try using common sense. It matters.
I am not an anti vaccine (antivaxer)but I am opposed to the mandated(forced)immunization schedule that is required to access the public school system and some types of employment in the State of MS. I am disappointed to see the same people that would throw a massive fit it they were forced to do other things (gun registration, voter id, school choice, abortion, etc.) The list of required injections has risen each year and most all of them have not been tested or proven. There is also no way to hold the companies libel if there is a problem with the medication. No, I am not an antivaxer, I am not a Tea Party member, I am not a crazy anti medicine nut, I am just a concerned Grandfather who sees the rights of the individual being sacrificed to the altar of large mostly foreign owned corporations. I agree there were many, many more outbreaks of measles but have you looked at how many of those died. There has to be an answer to why we are faced with so many cases of Autism, Sudden Infant Death and sudden disabilities in previously healthy babies and children. All I am seeking is a full open investigation that includes all possible causes. Abraham Lincoln stated "when a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest". May we all search for Truth.
KF please look into this bullshit about Gunn's chief of staff becoming a contract employee for 120K per year while running a business on the side. That is total bullshit and goes against the intent of the law and regulations for contract employees. I'd sure like to see a copy of that contract. I'd also like to ask Gunn if it would be ok if each agency executive director hired a chief of staff on contract for 120K per year while running a business on the side. This is the most outlandish waste of taxpayer money I've seen in a long time.
$Justsaying- I don't have a massive fit that schools require kids to be vaccinated to attend. I don't want your kids or grandchildren to attend public school with my children if they haven't been vaccinated. There are many irresponsible parents out there and I am glad the schools protect me and my children from them.
The cause of Autism has not been linked to vaccines. While the cause may not be known at this time I would venture to say more kids end up with problems because their parents do drugs, prescribed and illegal, and abuse alcohol. Nothing like watching a parent smoke a cigarette in the car while complaining about the vaccines have on their kids health.
The reason we have so many cases of autism is the definition of what constitutes autism has greatly expanded over the years.
"The list of required injections has risen each year and most all of them have not been tested or proven."
Bullshit. You are either lying or the most ignorant, uninformed biped on the planet. Every last one of these was tested and proven effective before being approved by the FDA.
Interestingly, the huge increase in the diagnosis of "autism" followed the awarding of large sums of money to school systems for special ed programs for treatment, leading to a great expansion in "autism spectrum disorder".
"I agree there were many, many more outbreaks of measles but have you looked at how many of those died."
If autism were connected to vaccines, one would expect that the state with the highest vaccination rate would have higher than average rates of autism, but there is no indication that Mississippi does have higher rates of autism. I would suspect that the measles caused a far higher rate of permanent serious disabilities, like blindness, or even death, than vaccines allegedly have caused, even though there is no proven connection between autism and vaccines. Nothing is without risk. But there is absolutely no doubt that public health is far better with the vaccines than without.
Twice as many people had hookworms as cancer. Hookworms, really?
Measles can cause severe birth defects when contracted by a pregnant mother. There was a huge Rubella epidemic in the US during the 1960s which led to development of the measles vaccine. I have a younger sister born profoundly deaf in 1966 because our mother had German measles while pregnant with her. Anti-vac parents are idiots who endanger even the unborn.
We now know that autism is genetic. It runs in families and the defective genes that cause autism are known and identified. There are more frequent diagnoses of autism today than years ago due to better education and medical care. The autistic community widely acknowledges this and some of their websites actually ban any reference to vaccines as the cause. If you want to avoid having an autistic child, don't cohabit with an autistic.
3:44 am I would point out that the Johns Hopkins study identified a genetic variant. Whether it is a mutation or inherited is not that clear as yet.
Of course, mutations can be inherited just like the mutations caused by Agent Orange that Australian genome researchers discovered. So, a new environmental risk is what should be ruled out as the increase can't be explained by inheritance alone as research of the last decade confirms.
Those attributing autism to vaccinations or government policy, should look at how the incidence varies wildly from State to State. Why is it that in the 11 states most recently studied that Alabama has the lowest rate and New Jersey has the highest rate? Why does Japan have one of the highest incidences in developed countries and all developed countries have higher rates than underdeveloped countries? Why has MS's rate jumped to 1 in 500 to 1 in 88 in just the last decade? Alabama's is 1 in 175 births. New Jersey is 1 in 46.
How is that reporting? How could that be inheritance?
You can pretend that is identification capability if you don't know that identification in geographical locations is part of the research and those doing the research know how to identify autism.
Those who think autism was hard to identify in the 50's or 60's when the incidence was low are mistaken. The developmental symptoms were and are hard to miss when you know what to expect as a child develops .
But, when it comes to measles or other childhood illnesses that can be prevented, it is " flat earth" thinking to not immunize. The risk that your child will be adversely affected by measles, mumps, whooping cough etc. is far greater than the risk of an adverse reaction to immunization.
It'd be ok with me for you not to immunize if you were only risking your child, but you will be responsible for all the those your child infects. And, worse, you have delayed the effort to discover what the actual environmental/ genetic factors might be by shifting the focus away from directions the scientists were pursuing based on sound research to investigating your anecdotal stories to prove vaccines weren't it.
It is a pity that now that computers have sped research capability, our policy driven by politics is now determined by those who don't believe in science.
OMG, you opened up a can of worms here, KF! As a mother, I had to decide if we were going to vaccinate or not. Just like you choose as a mother to breastfeed or not. There are those that believe that vaccines are the devil and that breast milk is so amazing, it can regrow an appendage! All that said, as humans, we must do better, because we know better. 100 years ago, people died from illnesses that we now have vaccines for. I chose for my child to be vaccinated, I cannot protect him from bullies in the world, but I can protect him from Measles, Mumps and Rubella! Also, that breast milk thing... He was exclusively BF and guess what, he still got sick at daycare... I respect you KF, thanks for floating this one to the top!
Post a Comment