Johnny Six-Jabs responds to

Submitted By: genedieken@yahoo.com – Click to email about this post

A sad moment for our local Anti-vax Patriarch: RFK Jr (putative Secretary of Health an Human Services) has officially announced that “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.” No response has been forthcoming from the Patriarch’s office as to whether Kennedy’s name will be placed on his List of War Pigs.

Of course, Sec. Kennedy didn’t come to this conclusion before quite a few kids checked into the ER with Vitamin A poisoning when they followed Kennedy’s previous recommendation to consume lots of cod liver oil.

OK, enough snideness! The outbreak is still happening and looking at where the large majority of cases have occurred, there’s much to be learned. Gaines County, Texas is on the far west high plains of the state and mainly known for extracting fossil fuels from the Permian Basin and irrigation water from the Ogallala Aquifer. The county of 22,000 is 82% vaccinated (95% is ideal for measles) and is home to large congregations of Anabaptist Mennonites who, while not theologically opposed to vaccination, seem in this case to be the focus for the outbreak along with plenty of people who no longer trust vaccines of any type.

So folks who meet congregately on a regular basis should be especially wary of the possibility that this highly contagious and serious disease is spreading farther afield.