Aren't Internet rabbit holes a wonderful thing?

I'm reading a book by @KenLussey - 'Stockholm Run' which involves an outbreak of Smallpox in Glasgow in 1943 (amongst other fascinating historical insights).

This eventually led on to a discussion of why my wife and I were told (in no uncertain terms) to be vaccinated against Smallpox in 1973/4.
The answer relates to the last confirmed death of someone from the disease - a Medical Photographer named Janet Parker.
Her death led to dramatic changes to the way dangerous pathogens are managed in the UK.

Sacha and I were working in Pathology Laboratories at the time and were considered to be high risk of contracting Smallpox (which at 50 years distance seems truly bizarre)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_smallpox_outbreak_in_the_United_Kingdom

#smallpox
#vaccines
#vaccination
#glasgow
#pathology

My Body, My Choice?

Well, yes, of course, but consider this: without a 5% increase in measles vaccine uptake, measles could once again become endemic in the U.S., while a 10% decline in vaccination rates could result in over 11 million measles cases and over 150,000 deaths per year.

And this is not just among the knuckleheads who choose not to vaccinate themselves and their children. Low vaccination rates eliminate the herd immunity that protects vulnerable people with impaired immunity like seniors, people with immunological illnesses, people with cancer, and all infants under the age of 12 months, as well as the 3% of healthy vaccinated individuals that the vaccine fails to protect.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/precipice-disaster-measles-may-be-endemic-25-years-if-vaccine-uptake-stays-low-model

UNICEF marks World Malaria Day with rollout of new vaccine in Mali http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TKMzxK #WorldMalariaDay #UNICEF #MalariaVaccine #GlobalHealth #Vaccination

My heart breaks for those poor, poor kids!
===
"Last week, Gildebrand said he met with Kennedy, who insisted, “‘You don’t know what’s in the vaccine anymore,‘” Hildebrand told Yahoo! News just hours after the girl’s funeral. “I actually asked him about it.”

“He never said anything about the vaccine being helpful,” Hildebrand added."

#measles #Vaccination #rfkjr

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/04/father-of-unvaccinated-girl-who-died-of-measles-makes-infuriating-claim.html

Africa: Increases in Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks Threaten Years of Progress, Warn WHO, UNICEF, Gavi: [WHO] Geneva/New York -- Immunization efforts are under growing threat as misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises, and funding cuts jeopardize progress and leave millions of children, adolescents, and adults at risk, warn WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi during World Immunization Week, 24-30 April. http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TKMk6j #Vaccination #Immunization #PublicHealth #WHO #UNICEF

Feverʼs pretty much gone. Inanahi was pretty miserable. Still, better than getting the plague. #COVID19 #JN1 #vaccination

The United States faces millions of #measles cases over the next 25 years if #vaccination rates for the #disease drop 10 percent, according to new #research published Thursday. No change in the current vaccination rate would result in hundreds of thousands of measles cases over the same period, according to a mathematical model produced by a team of Stanford University researchers. #publichealth #death #hospitals https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/04/24/measles-cases-deaths-vaccine-rates-rfk-jr/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzQ1NDY3MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzQ2ODQ5NTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NDU0NjcyMDAsImp0aSI6IjNiMGQxM2I3LThlNTEtNGQwOC05OGJlLTY0ZjFhOGRkYmFiNyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9oZWFsdGgvMjAyNS8wNC8yNC9tZWFzbGVzLWNhc2VzLWRlYXRocy12YWNjaW5lLXJhdGVzLXJmay1qci8ifQ.TmeZN-Qpx2MfHkViKpRgl67-ILdyaROlsH9hxUoDYjg

Millions of U.S. #measles cases forecast over 25 years if #vaccination rates decline https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/04/24/measles-cases-deaths-vaccine-rates-rfk-jr/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/04/24/measles-cases-deaths-vaccine-rates-rfk-jr/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social “The United States faces millions of measles cases over the next 25 years if vaccination rates for the disease drop 10 percent, according to new research published Thursday.

No change in the current vaccination rate would result in hundreds of thousands of measles cases over the same period, according to a mathematical model”

If you were wondering how the whole #Measles #Vaccination #antivax thing was going, it's not going well: 800 cases through April 17th, 3 deaths, 85 hospitalized (so *not* a good time) and something like 5% of inpatient cases get sepsis, 10% of inpatient cases gets acute kidney failure, 12% get pneumonia, 2-3% get encephalitis, not to mention immune damage. Not a good time at all.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7414a1.htm

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7188204/

James G. Hodge, Jr. gives incisive insights on legal threats to #vaccination, as well as lines of defense, in "Legal Underpinnings of the Great Vaccine Debate of 2025," now available on FirstView. #vaccines #VaccineEffectiveness #VaccineSafety www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Africa: Vaccination Progress Helps Save Millions of Lives in African Region: [GAVI] Brazzaville / Geneva -- An increase in vaccine coverage in Africa is helping protect millions of people from life-threatening diseases such as measles, polio and cervical cancer.In 2023, vaccination saved at least 1.8 million lives in the African region, nearly half the global figure of 4.2 million. These advancements have been… http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TKLb8T #Vaccination #VaccineCoverage #HealthInAfrica #GAVI #UNICEF

#30DayChartChallenge Día 24: ¡Usando datos de la @WHO! Hoy comparamos la cobertura de vacunación DTP3 (% niños 1 año) entre países agrupados por nivel de ingresos (Banco Mundial, 2000-2022). #TimeseriesWeek #SocialData #GlobalHealth

El gráfico muestra:
¡Gran mejora en todos los grupos hasta ~2019!
¡Pero una brecha enorme persiste! Los países de ingresos altos (amarillo ) cerca del objetivo 95% (línea rosa).
Los países de ingresos bajos (azul índigo ), aunque mejoraron mucho desde el 2000, se quedaron sobre el 70% y sufrieron un retroceso post-pandemia.

Un reflejo claro de la #EquidadEnSalud (o la falta de ella) a nivel global. ¡El acceso a vacunas básicas no es igual para todos!

#rstats #ggplot2 #data_table | Data: WHO GHO | Theme: #theme_week4_social
Código/Viz: https://t.ly/fRi1m

"The spread of measles in the Southwest now constitutes the largest single outbreak since the United States declared the disease eliminated in 2000, federal scientists told state officials in a meeting on Monday. ...

'This is the largest outbreak in the U.S. since measles elimination was declared in 2000,' [Dr. Dan Filardo] said."

~ Teddy Rosenbluth and Apoorva Mandavilli

#Trump #RFKJr #measles #Texas #Oklahoma #NewMexico #vaccination #vaccines #CDC

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/health/measles-southwest-outbreak.html

Numb arm and fever, but better than getting the actual thing! #COVID19 #JN1 #vaccination

A nice thing about getting a stem cell transplant is that after the procedure, you have to be revaccinated against everything. So I don't have to wonder whether I've been vaccinated against the measles.

"Are there other nice things about a stem cell transplant?"

Well.... there's the fact that it most likely saved you from death. That's a plus. Other than this, no. There's nothing else. It is a procedure that may kill you and which is replete with pain and misery.

R. F. #Kennedy s'apprête à constituer un fichier pour répertorier les autistes
https://newrepublic.com/post/194245/rfk-jr-disease-registry-track-autistic-people

Affirmant qu'il est capable de "trouver un traitement d'ici septembre", le ministre de la Santé va créer ce fichier à partir des données médicales publiques et privées, des ordonnances médicales, des résultats d'analyses, des demandes adressées par les malades aux assurances et des données des montres & applis connectées !

RFK veut prouver que l'#autisme a un lien avec la vaccination, après avoir découragé la #vaccination et aggravé ainsi l'épidémie de rougeole.

Y a-t-il un psychiatre pour soigner le ministre de la Santé ?

#WhoopingCough infections spike as #vaccination rates drop

The #US has reported more than 8,000 cases of whooping cough cases this year, more than double from this time last year. NBC News’ Sam Brock looks at the surge in this #contagious bacterial #infection that spreads through droplets.

“We’re seeing a return of #Dickensian #diseases” w/ the dissemination of anti-vaccine #ConspiracyTheories.

#PublicHealth #vaccines #HHS #RFKJr #Trump #Antivax #science #medicine
https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/whooping-cough-infections-spike-as-vaccination-rates-drop-238123589553

They said the measles vaccine would eventually lay me down for half a day like a short flu. It had been so long and so much else has happened, I had forgotten all about it, but I guess this is it. It's like a very sudden heavy cold lead suit. No pain, just feels like walking through ice cold molasses with zero energy. Hope it's short.

Shot bro. #COVID19 #JN1 #vaccination

Personal beliefs do not supersede the public good - and #vaccination is a public good. Why do we have 'religious and philosophical' exemptions for vaccines, a policy that harms children? https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-personal-beliefs-do-not-supersede-the-public-good-and-vaccination-is-a/