Prosecutor warns parents wary of vaccines:Mailing chickenpox so kids develop immunity

[HoustonTX]

By Associated Press, Published: November 4


"NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Parents fearful of vaccinations are being warned by a federal prosecutor that making a deal with a stranger who promises to mail them lollipops licked by children with chickenpox isn’t just a bad idea, it’s against the law.

Jerry Martin, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, said he was spurred by reports this week by KPHO-TV in Phoenix and WSMV-TV in Nashville about people turning to Facebook to find lollipops, spit or other items from children who have chickenpox.

“Can you imagine getting a package in the mail from this complete stranger that you know from Facebook because you joined a group, and say here, drink this purported spit from some other kid?” Martin told The Associated Press.

Isaac Thomsen, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, said it’s unlikely the items will succeed in giving other children chickenpox.

“If there’s a very high load on the virus and shipped very quickly, it’s theoretically possible,” he said. “But it’s probably not an effective way to transmit it. It typically has to be inhaled.”

But Thomsen warned the lollipops could carry more dangerous viruses, including hepatitis.

Martin said it is a federal crime to send diseases or viruses across state lines, whether through the U.S. Postal Service or private services like FedEx or UPS. Sending the lollipops would be illegal under the same law that makes it illegal to mail contagions like anthrax. He said a conviction could lead to a sentence from less than a year to 20 years in prison..."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...9mM_story.html


There sure are some dumb folks out there.

[Macadoo]

“Can you imagine getting a package in the mail from this complete stranger that you know from Facebook because you joined a group, and say here, drink this purported spit from some other kid?” Martin told The Associated Press.

Well, kinda fits with the rest of the luddite stupidity. We have a whole cottage industry that's sprung up against vaccinations after that bogus study in Britain. No matter how many times it's repudiated, and no matter how many independent studies show no linkage between vaccinations and Autism and other problems, some people are going to believe what they want to believe. And because of it, we have increasing incidents of outbreaks of highly communicable and preventable diseases like whooping cough and measles. People putting their children at risk. And of course that particular piece of mail doesn't come in contact with possibly millions of other pieces of mail. It's also perfectly logical for today's world: refuse vaccinations because of some unknown ill defined risk while trying to deliberately expose children to a suspected, yet potentially unknown, ill defined risk...from a stranger....that comes by mail.

[HoustonTX]

Next year, I think instead of getting a flu shot I'll just see if someone who has the flu will give me their boogery kleenex.

[Macadoo]

Next year, I think instead of getting a flu shot I'll just see if someone who has the flu will give me their boogery kleenex.

For some reason it makes me think of.....recently a book came out by the name of Sybil Exposed. The original Sybil was a book and then made for TV movie about a person with multiple personalities. After the book, and especially after the TV movie with Sally Field, Multiple Personality Disorder really came into vogue with it being suddenly diagnosed all over the place in the mental health industry until it tapered off a decade or so later. Sybil Exposed purports to show that most of the Sybil material was a deliberate hoax. I've seen the book reviewed sympathetically several places. The really entertaining part is to read the comments. The author and the book comes in for scathing criticism claiming that the book is a fraud and the prevalence of MPD is real. No doubt missing the irony entirely, one commenter asserted that not only was the original Sybil stuff all true, but that advancements in mental health diagnosis is such that disorders such as bipolar disorder which were barely acknowledged but a few years ago are now also being diagnosed all over the place. I couldn't hazard a guess as to the probable occupations of most of those with the harsh opinions.

[HoustonTX]

Obviously Sybil had problems and the sad thing is that instead of receiving psychological help, she was exploited by her shrink. Supposedly Sybil was getting 14-18 hrs of therapy a week, the shrink ate at her house, bought her stuff and paid her rent, encouraging this woman to be completely dependent on her. It's so unprofessional and inappropriate it boggles the mind. Shrink shouldn't have had a license.

In retrospect, maybe I should feel more sorry for the shrink. How exactly does a patient get their shrink to help them out with rent, anyhow?

[Macadoo]

Gee...how'd this happen?

Confirmed Whooping Cough Cases In Bozeman Nearly Double In 24 Hour Span

By Jess Antonio
POSTED: 9:28 pm MDT November 3, 2011
UPDATED: 9:43 pm MDT November 3, 2011

BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Gallatin City-County health official Matt Kelley says confirmed cases of Pertussis, or whooping cough, continues to grow by the day.

"The number of cases that we're seeing in Gallatin County is growing, it's not surprising in a situation like this when you get a significant number of cases we tend to see disease transmission, we tend to get people passing it on to one another. A this point in time we have twenty-eight reported cases of Pertussis," Kelley said.

In just twenty-four hours the number nearly doubled with almost the entirety of the positive cases coming from Bozeman High School. Kelley says twenty-five students and one coach have whooping cough, as well as one person from a day care, and one who's location has yet to be released.

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/29679946/detail.html