A seventh case, the first in a child under age 5, follows the state’s controversial surgeon general’s decision to let parents decide whether to quarantine children or keep them in school.

A seventh case, the first in a child under age 5, follows the state’s controversial surgeon general’s decision to let parents decide whether to quarantine children or keep them in school.

The Florida measles outbreak is expanding. On Friday, health officials in Broward County confirmed a seventh case of the virus, a child under age 5.

The patient is the youngest so far to be infected in the outbreak, and the first to be identified outside of Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, near Fort Lauderdale.

It’s unknown what connection the youngest measles case has to the school, but the spread beyond school-age kids was expected.

Cases are “not going to stay contained just to that one school, not when a virus is this infectious,” said Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    211·
    9 months ago

    So people don’t vaccinate their kids, and then they don’t quarantine them when they are sick? What the fuck is broken in the US?

    • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
      21·
      9 months ago

      Society, maybe just empathy. A large percentage of the populace simply doesn’t care about anyone other than themselves.

      • psivchaz@reddthat.com
        61·
        9 months ago

        There’s certainly some of that, but I don’t think it’s as widespread as you think. I think the base problem is actually a breakdown in social trust.

        Not everyone can be a doctor, or economist, or scientist. So we rely on experts to tell us what’s up. The trust in the very idea of expertise has been eroded, in part due to legitimate fuckups by top officials, in part due to a rise in “Facebook experts” and conspiracy theories, and in part due to a concerted effort by conservatives to destroy that trust for their own gain.

        Basically, these aren’t people thinking “I don’t care if these kids die.” These are people thinking, “The medical establishment is full of liars and thieves, so these so called vaccines don’t even work.”

        • GladiusB@lemmy.world
          31·
          9 months ago

          To piggy back on what you said, the distrust comes from the money. If you ask any of them they think the money leads other places. Which it does. So it just reinforces the distrust because we all know that there is funky healthcare costs. That insurance companies charge 500 dollars for an aspirin and they get it with medical billing.

    • Misconduct@lemmy.world
      101·
      9 months ago

      I’m a victim of “chickenpox parties” from the 80s. Some parents are just stupid assholes that refuse to accept you don’t have to make the immune system a punching bag to make it stronger

      Now I’m at a higher risk for severe shingles. Yay!! Thanks mom!

      • TurtleJoe@lemmy.world
        19·
        9 months ago

        I mean, that was the recommendation at the time. Chickenpox can be deadly to adults, and it was considered best to expose children to it when it wasn’t life-threatening. This was well before there was a vaccine available, and letting your kid get the virus was basically like giving them an inoculation.

        What’s bullshit is that you can’t get the shingles vaccine if you’re under 55 (in the US.)

          • ChexMax@lemmy.world
            3·
            9 months ago

            Idk about chicken pox, but I know you can’t get the RSV vaccine if you’re not elderly or in a very specific window of pregnancy. Like 34 to 36 weeks. My OB was out of it, I missed the window and then none of the pharmacies would give it to me at 37 weeks, even though my OB still recommended it.

          • gallopingsnail@lemmy.sdf.org
            1·
            9 months ago

            It’s indicated for patients 50 years old and older, or immunocompromised individuals 19 years old or older. You’re gonna have a real hard time finding a doc who goes against the CDC guidelines.

          • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world
            1·
            9 months ago

            Having chicken pox is considerably more painful as a teenager and complications are more likely as an adult. I could easily see a pediatrician recommending this to a mom before school started so her kids don’t miss any school.

            • Misconduct@lemmy.world
              1·
              9 months ago

              It was during school and a pediatrician would never recommend something like this now lol. Plenty if medical professionals were against it at the time too. The vaccine was out by the time I was a teen. We could have waited it out.