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.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    321·
    9 months ago

    Here is the problem as I see it and I don’t know a way around it:

    *There are some kids who cannot get vaccinated for legitimate reasons such as allergies or being immunocompromised.

    *There are highly unethical anti-vax doctors willing to give anti-vax parents fake exemptions based on those legitimate reasons that their kids don’t actually have.

    So how do you get around that?

    • hemmes@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      9 months ago

      A brief search indicates that only 1-2% of children are unable to receive traditional vaccinations due to allergies or immunocompromised conditions.

      I’m willing to bet that the unethical doctors writing exemptions likely have an unbalanced amount of child-vaccination exemptions to administered child-vaccinations ratio. Such discrepancies should be thoroughly investigated.

      In other words, if more than 2 out of every 100 children, a particular doctor consults with, are given vaccination exemptions, then something is suspicious.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        8·
        9 months ago

        That might work. In a sane state. Unfortunately, Florida would likely just let doctors get away with it if some such law astoundingly got passed. Their surgeon general is an anti-vaxer.

        • hemmes@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          9 months ago

          Yeah. It’s truly bat-shit crazy watching what’s going on. What a miracle vaccinations are, a true testament to mankind’s prowess. Then Florida does this (Alabama - lookin’ at you too, bruh).

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
        71·
        9 months ago

        There’s a lot off distance between “something is suspicious” and “this individual is criminally liable”.

        • hemmes@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          9 months ago

          Criminally dubious, indeed. But here we are, where laws in this and many other regressive states are breaking and bending in ways that befuddle the mind - the educated mind at least.

      • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
        4·
        9 months ago

        That doesn’t work. Doctors specialize in specific things. There are probably doctors who legitimately have 100% vaccine exempt patients for medical reasons.

        The real problem is that doctors can’t be “fired”. Stop asking the government to do something when it’s really the AMA licensing board that is the problem.

        It’s a private organization that is run by doctors. Obviously doctors are not going to prioritize making it easier to take away someone’s license. Demand the AMA do something about “killer doctors” or something. If their brand is associated with sickness, then they might take action.

    • Lmaydev
      13·
      9 months ago

      Investigate those exemptions and make sure they are legit. Fire any doctor who gives out fake ones.