OT: Mumps outbreak at the Ohio State University of Viruses
How does that saying go, "Karma is a ........."
Bad jokes aside, this is horrible news for the university. I hope they can contain it because these things can spread very quickly.
But, it could be a useful recruiting tool for Michigan to point out that OSU is a petri dish of harmful viruses.
And if Aaron Craft was smart, he'll start using the fact he had the mumps as to why he choked.
http://news.yahoo.com/mumps-outbreak-ohio-state-grows-23-cases-21563907…-
March 18th, 2014 at 11:00 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
Except the whole point of vaccines is that we were "loosing" lots of children to these diseases - skipping vaccines to save a child only puts them more at risk. Which is why anti-vax is stupid - the threat from the diseases is orders of magnitude worse than potential side effects from vaccines. And no, autism isn't one of those potential side effects.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^
Good judgment would look at what I do and don’t know. If I have a serious legal problem I would not defend myself. I would find an expert, you know a lawyer with education and experience, to help me.
The same goes for vaccines. I did not spend years in medical school followed by years of research and study working in the field. Luckily for me others have done this. Perhaps the best use of judgment is to go to those people and follow their advice.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:04 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^
The most satisfying part of listening to people who buy into the anti-vaccine nonsense is the inevitable "It's not like people are dying of these diseases anymore anyway."
Do you know why people don't die of these diseases anymore? VACCINES!
March 18th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:27 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:32 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ^
the part about the science.
March 18th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^
The day your science teacher went over the difference between causation and correlation.
I can create a graph showing cooler pooping and buckeye affiliation, doesn't mean they have a causal relationship.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:31 AM ^
There's a mountain of evidence showing that the tobacco industry spent billions attempting to obfuscate the link between smoking and health issues. It was a massive, obvious propaganda campaign. This is not analogous to anti-vaxxxxxxxers.
I think your trust in your own judgment is rather overdeveloped.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:39 AM ^
But bad science still gets exposed as bad science, as Andrew Wakefield discovered. You have this ass-backwards...it's the anti-vaxxxxx crowd playing the role of tobacco companies.
This is by far the worst argument thrown about by the avti-vaccine crowd and really makes me want to strangle them. PHARMA COMPANIES DO NOT MAKE MONEY ON VACCINES. Yes, the sell them so they get revenue. But the competition (race to the bottom in revenues) and cost of making therefore eat into all of that. More broadly, preventive care, like vaccination, DOES NOT generate long term revenue. Pharma makes way more money treating life long diseases. Diabetes, HIV, Crohn's, high cholesterol, etc. Humira is a $9 BILLION a year drug because people have to take it forever (and it's a really complicated drug that will pretty much never become generic as its a biosimilar). This is why most "big" pharma companies don't even make vaccines anymore. Not worth the investment.
And since I can forecast your comeback, there is and will not be a pharmaceutical cure for autism.
not be a pharmaceutical cure for autism, but that does not mean they are not prescribing the hell out of ADHD stimulant drugs to treat the symptoms of it.
on the overprescription and diagnosis of ADHD. I believe (not a Dr. or researcher into this) that much of this could be cured with increased recess. Growing up I needed all three (15 minute morning and afternoon and 30 min lunch) recesses to get my energy out. Without those I would have been a mess in class.
I've never understood the no recess thing (or at least limited). It's caused by, in my view, two prevalent factors: 1) number of required classroom hours and 2) potential lawsuits against schools (other items I'm sure exist as well, but these are the two I latch on to). The first is ironic. Kids would do better in school if they had 30+ minutes a day to actually be kids. The second is cultural. Parents appear more willing to feed their kids ADHD pills than allow them to potentially hurt themselves being, you know, kids.
I know it sounds funny, but you pointed out a couple. Shaq did a show where he focused on a few fat kids in a florida elementary to try to get them healthy long with the school in general. I remember the whole school doing 15 minutes of excercise in the morning and all the teachers stated that students behave and performed better, yet the initiative was scrapped as soon as he left due to curriculum. I am suprised that curriculums are that scheduled that 15 minutes isn't available for 6-10 year olds in a day. I need to take walks to keep my mind sharp during a work day.
In the 90's there was a big push for a diversified mind, that a healthy body (excercise) helped the mind, along with music and arts helping math and english. It is weird that the schools seem so far from that ideal.
And kids geting hurt happens. I broke my wrist bones in half on the monkey bars. You get a cast and other kids sign it. I think parents forget that getting hurt can be a learning experience as well. I also think letting kids be kids and organizing games, and things themselves is important. Some of your best leadership and creativity can come on the playground.
Sorry, end rant
I agree with all of this and as a 90s kid, (graduated high school in 2000) I distinctly remember this. I was also fortunate enough to have a teacher in 4th grade who came from a Montessori background. This is the one elementary school year I still remember vividly. The combination of art and music that he wove into the mandatory curriculum was the ebst singly year of education I received. Everything stuck because it wsa fun! He even wove art and music into the preparation for mandatory standardized tests. He won MassachusettsTeacher of the Year a couple years after I had him.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
The reason fatality numbers for Pox/mumps are low, is because of VACCINES!
And please tell me you go to a real Doctor and not just Dr. Google.
It's my job to do what's best for my child.
Yes it is, but you do realize that you put everyone else child at risk by doing this?
It also gives me a warm fuzzy reading about the huge fund set up in case your child has such a high fever that it causes brain damage.
All medical procedures have inherent risk. If your one year old child needed a life saving operation, would you keep them from that because there is small risk that there could be complications from anesthesia? There is also a small percentage of people each year that get strangled by their seatbelts, should you not drive to the Hospital for preventative procedures because of this?
March 18th, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:28 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^
I guess I should just do what I'm told.
Yes you should do what you are told... by Doctors.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
I was thinking more along the lines of tatoo artists.
March 18th, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^
For an infectious disease spread at OHIO, I would have thought STD for sure.
bucknuts
March 18th, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
http://howdovaccinescauseautism.com/
^Good read.
Please actually click the link before you downvote.
March 18th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
actually about the sum total of the research that has been conducted on the issue as well.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
You are not very good at science. Or reading...
http://www.immunizationinfo.org/science/epidemiological-study-autism-an…
March 18th, 2014 at 11:06 AM ^
remember that researcher who fabricated all the data linking vaccines and autism? let's call him dr. fuckeditup.
he already did all the research you need. he looked for a link. guess what? there was none. thus, he had to make up numbers.
what is more likely? a researcher comes up with two things that he thinks have no possible linkage, and completely fakes the data to shwo that they are linked?
or
a researcher thinks two things are linked, gives his best shot at finding the linkage in a solid study, but then, upon finding that the two things that he realllllly thought were linked actually aren't, makes up the data to show they are linked.
bottom line, my conspiracy has way more credibility than yours.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
What we DO know, is vaccines prevent outbreaks of deadly diseases. It's very VERY effective.
We also are seeing outbreaks of diseases that had been previously eliminated. Because people aren't vaccinating.
Why the hell do you want to stop doing something that WORKS because there has been faulty research saying maybe it might cause autism. Why the hell are you trusting JENNY MCCARTHY when approximately 100% of doctors say vaccinate your damn kids!
March 18th, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 10:54 AM ^
March 18th, 2014 at 10:55 AM ^
people think there is a link between autism and vaccines is because there was a fabricated study linking the two. It would be the equivalent of some reputable cancer researcher fabricating a link between watching porn and getting prostate cancer, and then having a war on porn started by some family center.
Why don't we spend money to research whether there is a link between vaccines and autism? for the same reason we don't spend money researching whether there is a link between eating boogers and having diarrhea.
Actually, there's very likely a negative correlation between watching porn and prostate cancer, as regular ejaculation has been shown to reduce the likelihood of developing prostate cancer. I'm not kidding.
March 18th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
... but I'm not ready to rule out all environmental factors:
Maybe this link is co-incidental rather than causal, I don't know, but I won't rule it out yet.
Perhaps as a preventative measure we should all embrace the cleanest and safest form of power generation - nuclear :)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-deathprint-a-price-always-paid/#
March 18th, 2014 at 12:20 PM ^
bought into Dr. Andrew Wakefield's thimerosol preservative conspiracy theory. Most of them described as "well educated" too. I'm not at all surprised to see outbreaks of mumps and measles now in 2014. Ohio is not alone. In California, they are reporting 10x the number of measles cases this year. Canada too is getting hit. The outbreak (in measles) appears to be linked to the Philippines, which I believe normally follows the WHO vaccination schedule that includes MMR. Except the Philippine govt failed to execute, and ouila: unnecessary suffering for children and adults. They're backpedalling about price and local poverty, except the MMR is free in most countries. Nice try Philippine govt.
Mumps is not deadly, but measles (incl. the teutonic brand of measles) are deadly, especially for infants/children.
March 18th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
At risk of being labeled ignorant, this article references 22 scientific studies done that show possible connections between vaccines and autism. All of the research was done at major university research institutes, reputable hospitals, or published in scientific journals. From what I read, nothing was conclusive, but certainly calls into question the claims of those saying that "all the research being done has shown zero connection between vaccinations and autism."
A few quotes:
[Dr. Wakefield] has been labelled a fraud by the mainstream medical world, some experts claim that his research and methods are weak and based on very little evidence. Dr Wakefield’s research will NOT be used in this article.
"...multiple studies from around the world have concluded that there is no link between Autism and the MMR Vaccine(5)."
"A study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health...Researchers found a positive and statistically significant relationship between autism and vaccinations. They determined that the higher the proportion of children receiving recommended vaccinations, the higher the prevalence of autism."
"A study conducted by the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Arkansas determined that thimerosal-induced cytotoxicity was associated with the depletion of intracellular glutathione (GSH) in both cell lines. The study outlines how many vaccines have been neurotoxic, especially to the developing brain. Depletion of GSH is commonly associated with autism. Although thimerosal has been removed from most children’s vaccines, it is still present in flu vaccines given to pregnant women, the elderly and to children in developing countries."
Not really advocating one side or the other, and vaccinations obviously play a role, but I think there's still a case for caution.
March 18th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
Like most anti-vaxxxxxx resources, Andrew Wakefield is held up as a martyr. His work WAS proven to be fraudelent AND his motive was known and extremely clear.
Reading that article, an awful lot of those studies aren't even related to vaccines. You can't just run with "mercury is toxic and vaccines are laced with mercury" like the article is attempting to do.
The third quoted passage refers to a study published in an obscure journal despite the mainstream-sounding title. Furthermore. Gayle DeLong isn't a scientist nor a medical doctor. She is on faculty in the Department of Economics and Finance in some New York business school. Not to reverse the argument from authority, but this is a red flag. Furthermore, she's personally plugged her OWN STUDY on "Age of Autism," which is an anti-vaxxxx site.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/06/08/more-bad-science-in-the-se…
This pretty much dismantles the DeLong study, which appears to be the most relevant of those 22 "studies."
Good god, this place has turned into Reddit Jr. How has this thread not been locked yet??
I'm not seeing a whole lot of discussion. More like "you're dumb, here's a website that supports my view and you're an idiot if you don't agree with me"... not really the level of intelligent, respectful dialog I'd expect from a Michigan crowd, thus the reddit jr. comment.
Honestly, there shoudn't really need to be a discussion about this, because science.
Do vaccines cause Autism? No. This has been proven by science.
Are vaccines good for the human race? Yes. This has been proven by science.
Should I have myself and kids vaccinated? Yes. Unequivocally. This has been proven by science.
There aren't really two sides to this argument. Just as there aren't two sides to the argument whether the world is round or flat. Or whether the earth revolves around the sun or vice versa. We know the factual side to these issues, because you know... science.
The whole vaccines cause autism paranoid bullshit is a perfect example of people externalizing their problems. "It couldn't have been me and my perfect DNA! It has to be...vaccines...yeah, vaccines! Does anybody even know what's in those things?"
These are problably the same sort of people who fell for the dihydrogen monoxide gag.
"Dihydrogen monoxide? Sounds dangerous! Like the sort of thing that could led to autism..."
They may be onto something though. After all, 100% of people who drink dihydrogen monoxide die at some point.
Pretty inappropriate use of "Ohio." Even approrpriate uses are old and stale now.
I'm a proponent of shutting the thing down. It's lame and seems to be the most popular with our least sophisticated fans. To wit...