Mod Note
Do you? Of the diseases for which there are vaccines, tell me which are contagious before there are any symptoms. I'll wait...
Nevermind..
For whooping cough:
"Infected people are most
contagious up to about 2 weeks after the
cough begins. Antibiotics may shorten the amount of time someone is
contagious."---https://
www.google.com/search?q=when+is+whooping+cough+contagious&rlz=1C1CHZL_enUS699US699&oq=w&aqs=chrome.1.69i59l3j69i60l3.6813j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
For flu, I get my flu shot every year. But I've come down with it anyway. It can be contagious 1 day before symptoms appear. Oh well...So sue me.
For your information, whooping cough starts out looking like the common cold. It is contagious from the moment the first signs appear. Symptoms include a runny nose, low grade fever, a dry cough sometimes. To wit, it starts off looking like a mild cold. The dry hacking cough, gasping, gagging, vomiting after coughing fits does not appear for a few weeks, by which point, parents or adults believe it was just a mild cold, carry on their day to day lives, send kids to school with it believing it is just a mild cold. Hence the absolute danger of the disease, because it is contagious when it simply looks like a mild cold. Some just have a bit of a runny nose and no other symptoms, so parents send them to school non the wiser that their child is a biological time bomb, and a danger to those around them, which is made worse if they come into contact with children and adults with compromised immune systems or babies who are not yet vaccinated.
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Source]
Stage 1 is where the biggest danger to others lie, because parents with kids who look like they have a mild cold, will often send their kids to school or daycare, go to amusement parks, cinemas, shopping malls, thereby spreading the disease, because the disease is highly contagious in those early stages. Even after taking anti-biotics, they are still contagious for a week or even more and more often then not, they will not start the anti-biotics until the child is in the second stage, where it becomes obvious that the child has the disease.
So no, claiming that it is most contagious up to and about 2 weeks after the cough begins is not only wrong, but also dangerous to believe that. Kids often just have a runny nose at the start and they are contagious then. So please stop spreading disinformation in your anti-vaxxer excuse zeal.
Measles is another one, and if anything, measles is possibly more dangerous because a) the person is contagious before the obvious symptoms appear and b) the disease can hang around where the infected person has been for hours and is airborne. The importance of the MMR vaccine and why parents who object to vaccines based on a lie and conspiracy theory has resulted in a disease that had virtually been close to eradication in the West, making a comeback, resulting in many children and babies now contracting the disease and yes, resulting in permanent damage and
death for some of them.
The use of measles vaccine in infant immunisation programs globally has led to a significant reduction in measles cases and deaths. In addition to providing direct protection to the vaccine recipient, immunisation against measles results in the indirect protection of unimmunised people (herd immunity) if high enough coverage is achieved. Measles vaccine has several major effects on measles epidemiology, including an increase of the mean age of infection and an increase in the time between epidemics.
Despite the availability of an effective measles vaccine for almost 40 years, the disease still causes a considerable burden in many countries. In 2008, there were 164,000 measles deaths globally. Higher measles vaccination coverage (at 85 per cent in 2010) led to a 78 per cent drop in measles deaths globally between 2000 and 2008. Reductions in measles mortality accounted for 23 per cent of the estimated global decline in all-cause child mortality from 1990 to 2008. Most deaths occur in developing countries, principally in Africa and Asia. Forty-three countries reported routine measles vaccine coverage below 80 per cent in 2010. Large measles outbreaks continue to occur, especially in areas of developing countries with low vaccine coverage and among children living in countries where there are unstable social conditions. These outbreaks frequently have high case-fatality rates.
To put it into some perspective, Measles had been eliminated in the US. This means that it was no longer naturally occurring within the population of the United States. This is now no longer the case, because of anti-vaxxers. The reason being is that with more and more people deliberately electing to not vaccinate, when they come into contact with a migrant or someone from overseas that has the disease, it then spreads like wildfire in the unvaccinated community. Lack of vaccination in a community means that herd immunity has gone out the window, leaving everyone at risk.
This year in Arizona, for example, a measles outbreak hit. The reason is simple and so downright stupid that it beggars belief. US staff working in a migrant processing center refused to be vaccinated. They then came into contact with someone who had the measles. And the outbreak began. It is one of the biggest outbreaks of measles in 2016 if not in recent years. 22 people, a lot of them US staff
who refused vaccination, came down with the disease. In one small town in one State. Every person who came down with it were not vaccinated. This puts others in the community who cannot be vaccinated because of age (children under 12 months, for example, people with compromised immunity systems) is now at risk because some staff working in a place where they came into direct contact with people from overseas who are more than likely not vaccinated due to poverty, refused to be vaccinated in the course of their employ.
Measles had been eliminated in the US. How the US achieved that was through a high level of vaccination in the community, ensuring herd immunity. Now it is considered endemic in the US and naturally occurring and spreading in the population because people are not vaccinated.
Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children or themselves because of a ridiculous and false conspiracy theory pose a risk and danger to everyone around them, and the result is sadly sometimes death for those unfortunate enough to come into contact with them. Herd immunity works. It worked for decades before stupidity led to people falling for a false conspiracy theory and now, measles is no longer considered eliminated in the US. It is now endemic.
To wit, there is no rhyme or reason to defend this as you have been.
I would encourage and caution you, MR, to be careful about your unscientific arguments and defense of anti-vaxxers. It is known and proven that anti-vaxxers pose a risk to their communities. Trolling and flaming people who discuss these dangers will not be tolerated on this site.
