Autism Street

Among others, there was a recent measles outbreak in San Diego.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a3.htm

In January 2008, measles was identified in an unvaccinated boy from San Diego, California, who had recently traveled to Europe with his family.

This report summarizes the preliminary results of that investigation, which has identified 11 additional cases of measles in unvaccinated children† in San Diego that are linked epidemiologically to the index case and include two generations of secondary transmission.

The index patient was an unvaccinated boy aged 7 years who had visited Switzerland with his family, returning to the United States on January 13, 2008. He had fever and sore throat on January 21, followed by cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis. On January 24, he attended school. On January 25, the date of his rash onset, he visited the offices of his family physician and his pediatrician.

The boy’s measles immunoglobulin M (IgM) positive laboratory test result was reported to the county health department on February 1, 2008. During January 31–February 19, a total of 11 additional measles cases in unvaccinated infants and children aged 10 months–9 years were identified. These 11 cases included both of the index patient’s siblings (rash onset: February 3), five children in his school (rash onset: January 31–February 17), and four additional children (rash onset: February 6–10) who had been in the pediatrician’s office on January 25 at the same time as the index patient. Among these latter four patients, three were infants aged <12 months. One of the three infants was hospitalized for 2 days for dehydration; another infant traveled by airplane to Hawaii on February 9 while infectious.

So, three infants (too young to receive the MMR) who went to the pediatrician contracted measles simply because they were at the pediatrician’s office the day the unvaccinated, infected boy was there. I’ll bet those parents were real pleased (assuming they are aware of the report).

But here’s a problem - stories like this just don’t make media headlines but possibly for a few seconds at a time (a few seconds that many people probably ignore).  To me, the public seems more fascinated with celebrity stupidity, than promotion of an infectious disease-free childhood. Isn’t there anything that can be done to show the stupidity for what it is?

When outbreaks (small or large) of vaccine-preventable diseases occur, why not assign a name the media can get behind for media coverage - just like the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center does?

It could be much easier for media consumers to understand references to the same, serious, and connected events (especially if the frequency increases in the future), when disccusing something hypothetically like:

“Measles Outbreak - Jenny” or “Pertussis Outbreak - Jim”

What does this have to do with Autism?
Absolutely nothing.

But, don’t let that deter you from doing something to

Green our schools and doctors’ offices!

Please do your part, as a thinking and responsible member of society, to help keep vaccine-preventable infectious diseases out of these places for all kids (autistic and non-autistic).