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Measles exposure

Skeptic Ginger

Nasty Woman
Skeptic Ginger
Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
96,955
Well this ought to be interesting:

A person who was confirmed with measles traveled to several western Washington public locations while contagious. ... The woman traveled to Seattle for a Kings of Leon concert at Key Arena on March 28, when she also was at the Best Western Loyal Inn and the Wasabi Bistro. The next day, she was at Beth’s Café, Aurora Suzuki, Starbucks at First and Pike, and the Pike Place Market.
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My Gawd! Civilization as we know it is at a peril! PERIL I SAY!!!!
 
Not the point, casebro. The point is this infectious person was in the middle of some very large crowds. And there are a lot of anti-vaxxers around here. I'm interested in the results of this unethical in vivo experiment.
 
Okay SG. I expect the answer will not be earth shaking. How long is the incubation period, and when would you consider the 'experiment' complete ?
 
10-21 days after exposure plus a couple more for cases to reach medical providers who know what measles looks like and a day or so more to be reported to the public health and passed on as an alert.

We'll know in a month.
 
In 1998 there was 92% vaccination and 56 cases across the whole of the UK. After the MMR anti-vax panic, vaccination dropped below herd immunity levels in many parts - by this time last year, Swansea in South Wales had over a thousand cases from a single outbreak.
 
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I thought that the anti-vax claim is that we don't need herd immunity because if people get sick, they can just stay home?
 
dlorde said:
I hope all the kids survive... :covereyes
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God takes soonest those he loveth best. :rolleyes: According to Chris Haynes's link, they are member of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation. This is a group in which not vaccinating your children is a highly inheritable trait, so to say. At least their numbers in North America are minuscule; only 144 in Lynden, Whatcom County, Washington, where this case occurs.
 
ddt said:
... At least their numbers in North America are minuscule; only 144 in Lynden, Whatcom County, Washington, where this case occurs.
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We were hoping to visit Lynden as part of a trip to visit the Skagit Tulip Festival. So it may be later this month than earlier. Le sigh.

We want to visit the bakery that makes poffertjes just outside in a huge pan. Perhaps to compare to the ones I make at home in a pan I bought in Amsterdam. When we picked up the suitcase I packed it in at baggage claim, we noticed a tape around it saying "Security checked." Obviously the cast iron pan made a big dark blog when X-rayed.
 
pgwenthold said:
I thought that the anti-vax claim is that we don't need herd immunity because if people get sick, they can just stay home?
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Heh, yeah I love that. Isn't there a brief asymptomatic period where they're infectious yet not displaying symptoms? Even if it's only half a day, that's still a period where a patient doesn't know he/she needs to isolate themselves from others.

Then again, I don't want to presume that much thought on the antivaxer's part went into creating that position.

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ETA: Hey, EMH, Google is your friend!
In classic measles cases, there is a 10- to 14-day incubation period between infection and the onset of clinical signs and symptoms, and infected persons are usually contagious for 2–3 days before and up to 4 days after onset of the rash.
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I'm sure the health professionals here can give more explanation and context, but that source indicates there is indeed a short contagious yet asymptomatic period.
 
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The same group has been the source of other outbreaks. Here in 1978 there was a spillover into the community of Sumas, Wa, of polio. The original outbreak was in their religious community in the Netherlands. Their community has branches in Canada and the US. Later it was mumps.

Dutch Reformed likely at heart of mumps outbreak

A retired physician in Chilliwack vividly remembers the conservative Christian mushroom farmer who came to him in 1978 severely ill with polio, which was starting to paralyze his body.
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ddt said:
God takes soonest those he loveth best. :rolleyes: According to Chris Haynes's link, they are member of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation. This is a group in which not vaccinating your children is a highly inheritable trait, so to say. At least their numbers in North America are minuscule; only 144 in Lynden, Whatcom County, Washington, where this case occurs.
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If only that was all the anti-vaxxers.

Vashon Island is a suburb of Seattle.

Island’s low vaccination rates prompt worries about whooping cough
Chautauqua Ele-mentary School, only 85 percent of children are immunized against pertussis. This is particularly worrisome for health officials, because herd immunity — the number of immunized people necessary to stop disease from spreading if it enters a community — is roughly 90 percent for pertussis.
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You need closer to 95% to achieve herd immunity for measles.
 
pgwenthold said:
I thought that the anti-vax claim is that we don't need herd immunity because if people get sick, they can just stay home?
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And yet, they don't.

More than a few diseases are infectious before symptom onset. Measles is one of them.
 
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