This is the thing. I guess if you let everybody choose their own path, then natural selection should take care of the worst decisions.
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One of the things that characterises life is that the way that natural selection has led to organisms gaming the system so that it is not just a matter of blind mutation rates. This starts with selective DNA repair mechanisms and goes through to humans developing vaccines. No, “natural selection” will not take care of the worst decisions. It is up to us.
Unless your too-young-to-be-vaccinated baby is accidentally sneezed/breathed on by an ardent “anti-vaxxer”. Natural selection is a bit unfair in that case.
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Well, it is the parent’s job to keep the baby safe. Probably not a good idea to take your un-vaccinated baby somewhere where it can be sneezed on by an un-vaccinated child.
Come on, be realistic!
Single mother needing to get groceries?
What does strike me as dumb is the US not having Federal rules on vaccination rather than State ones.
It’s a bit like a city declaring itself a nuclear-free zone - pointless.
It is more insidious than that. Anti-vaxxers are free loading on the rest of us. As long as they stay in a tiny minority that is not a problem. When vaccination rates fall further, all of us have a problem. The relative reproductive survival rates will not result in a sufficient correction within several generations for "natural selection to have much effect - for that to kick in death rates will have to go sky high.
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I think the anti-vaxxers have a different strategy: have lots of kids and hope most survive. In the story above, the parents had 5 kids and only 1 died. So they still have 4 kids. That’s probably around 2 more than the average family.
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Not sure in the case in Texas. The parents are quoted to have said:
“It was her time on Earth,” the translator said the parents told her. “They believe she’s better off where she is now.”
Just checked the Swiss legislation on mandatory vaccines.
Art 22 Obligatorischen impfungen from Federal Act on the Control of Communicable Human Diseases
The cantons may declare vaccinations compulsory for vulnerable population groups, particularly exposed persons and persons performing certain activities if there is a significant risk.
Which is more or less what happened with COVID19 vaccine. The obligatory part was not really obligatory.
If a measles outbreak started in among Switzerland’s children, I’d assume there would be something like “proof of vaccination to enter the school”. No vaccine? Homeschooling and god bless you.
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Switzerland has been declared measles free.
What that means is that a high enough percentage of the population has been vaccinated that whilst people may get measles, an outbreak* is unlikely to occur.
*Two or more linked cases.
On the contrary. They should have at least 5-10, like in good old times, in order for a few of them to reach the adult age.
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The parents are from a Mennonite religious sect. They needed a translator for the press, because they speak Low German. Indeed, another world.
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As of March 20, 2025, a total of 378 confirmed measles cases were reported by 18 jurisdictions: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.
No surprise really
At least 483 measles cases (97% unvaccinated) are now confirmed 28% up in a week in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington, according to the CDC.
At the beginning of the month, the number of confirmed cases was just 164.
WTF is RFKjr doing as he is now head of all the US Health Agencies?
Probably running around offering raw milk.
Donnie creates his own disasters by appointing rank amateurs or antivaxxers.
Edit: Biggest outbreak since 2019 with 1,217 cases
Maybe we should ban unvaccinated Americans from visiting Europe?
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I had measles when I was 10…I spent a morning memorising Jabberwocky whilst awaiting the school bus that delivered my homework assignments.
I had varicella as an adult (in my twenties) and it was rather unpleasant, I wish the vaccine was available when I was a child! (maybe it was, but not in my country) I still don’t get how I managed to avoid this one, as I had other childhood illnesses even though they were quite “mild”.
A top vaccine official, Dr. Peter Marks, at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) resigned after 13 years service, citing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “misinformation” and apparent lack of desire for “truth and transparency.”
Marks said that he was “willing” to work to address Kennedy’s “concerns” about vaccine transparency and safety.
“However, it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote in his Friday resignation letter that was addressed to acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner.
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From NYTs
Measles cases in Kansas more than doubled in the last week, bringing the tally to 20, while another outbreak in Ohio has sickened 10 people, local public health officials reported on Wednesday.
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