The recent measles outbreak in West Texas has brought the disease back into the news, conjuring up discussion in medical and, more notably, political spaces about the management of infectious diseases on a level of public health discourse.
To understand the current outbreak it is necessary to have context as to the history of the disease.
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Persian physicians in the 9th century were the first to provide a clinical description of the disease, distinguishing it from similar diseases such as Smallpox. It is reported, however, that measles fully diverged from the rinderpest virus (RPV) in the 12th century, becoming a distinct virus that infected humans.
The first attempt to isolate and inoculate patients with Measles was Scottish Physician, Francis Home, who first identified the infectious agent within human blood that causes Measles disease. Additionally he attempted to inoculate healthy patients with infected patients’ blood.
In 1954, Physician Thomas Peebles and Biomedical Scientist John Enders, successfully isolated measles virus in an 11 year-old boy. John Enders was a Nobel Laureate and is recognized as the “Father of Modern Vaccines”. Enders did work on Polio alongside Jonas Salk. Following the successful isolation of the virus, Enders began working on a Measles vaccine. Enders led trials in New York City and Nigeria from the late 1950s until 1961 when the vaccine was declared effective and in 1963, the measles vaccine was licensed for public use.
In 1968, Dr. Maurice Hilleman, developed an improved version of Enders’ vaccine, and in 1971 he developed the combined Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine.
Measles is an acute viral illness caused by a virus in the family paramyxovirus, genus Morbillivirus, Measles is characterized by a prodrome of fever (as high as 105°F) and malaise, cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis, followed by a maculopapular rash. The rash usually appears 14 days after exposure and spreads from head to trunk to lower extremities.
Important points to mention are the extremely low death rate of measles, and more importantly how the death rate of measles was trending downward and had even reduced 98% prior to the vaccine’s introduction. As can be seen in the data displayed in the chart down below.
In the decade before the MMR vaccine (1963) nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years old, an estimated 3 to 4 million people got measles each year in the United States, resulting in approximately 400 to 500 deaths, 48,000 hospitalizations, and 1,000 cases of encephalitis (brain swelling) annually. The estimated mortality rate was 0.0125%.
Measles elimination in the United States, In 1978, CDC set a goal to eliminate measles from the United States by 1982. Although this goal was not met. In 1989 a resurgence of measles occurred when over 55,000 cases and 123 deaths were reported among vaccinated and unvaccinated school-aged children, a mortality rate of 0.22% this prompted the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to recommend a second dose of MMR vaccine for all children. It is worth mentioning that at the time in the United States had an estimated 55 million children under the age of 15. So, the risk of getting the disease in this scenario was 0.1% however they proceeded to immunize. So please make your own conclusions.
There has been uproar and hysteria regarding the recent outbreak in West Texas. I think a fundamental question to ask in this situation is where did the outbreak originate from?
Dr. Peter McCullough brought up a fantastic point in a recent interview this past weekspeaking about the measles outbreak in West Texas bringing up the relevant question about how this outbreak started. More importantly, he correctly points out that with modern medical care “children should not die due to measles”.
This brings me back to the history and epidemiology of the disease. Virtually every child within the period of the late 1950s and through the decade of the 1960s contracted measles (e.g. those in Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s cohort), and the death rate was extremely low. Considering the tremendous advances in medical care over the past 60 years, why is anyone dying of measles? As an example, I am a Pediatrician, Allergist and Clinical Immunologist with 32 years of experience trained in Mexico & Europe and with work experience in the United States and I haven’t once seen a case of Measles.
Dr. Kelly Victory, as well, in a recent interview regarding the recent spike in flu cases mentioned a key phrase that applies in this situation as well: “You can’t vaccinate your way to good health”. Although the media finds it easy to blame this on vaccine hesitancy, maybe the true culprit here is the standard of medical care. This disease, regardless of vaccination status, shouldn’t be causing the complications that are being reported. Instead of spreading fear and confusion, the media should refer to the experts who understand the proper measures for remedying this ailment.
Something that should concern public health experts, is that in Mexico, for example, there practically hasn’t been any reported outbreaks of measles, actually the most recent case of measles originating within the country was in 1995, exactly 30 years ago. Public health data from 2000-2019 shows that there were only 185 cases of measles in Mexico, all of which were imported. It was only until 2020 that Mexico experienced a minor outbreak of Measles in the country. Considering, however, that Mexico has significantly lower quality of infectious disease management, why is it that measles statistics are so much higher in the United States?
This leads me to one of my principal points, why is the outbreak occurring at this moment? And why does the messaging from the media seem to be so coordinated?
Secretary Kennedy recently released an Op-Ed in response to the media storm surrounding this outbreak. Some folks have criticized Secretary Kennedy’s statements on the measles outbreak, specifically his suggestion that parents should consider the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) Vaccine. However, I think some are not fully seeing some key elements within his Op-Ed. Namely, those in which he mentions nutrition and adequate vitamin supplementation as the “best defense” against most chronic and infectious diseases.
Just prior, he mentions that “improvements in sanitation and nutrition” were responsible for the 98% decrease in Measles mortality prior to the MMR vaccine’s introduction. The headlines of Sec. Kennedy’s Op-Ed are very diplomatic; somewhat appeasing to the media and public pressures. However, the actual content and the underlying message of the Op-Ed is accurate.
I believe that the overblown media narratives surrounding this outbreak are being solely used as political weapons to harm the MAHA agenda of the new Presidential Administration. The playbook of the COVID Operation is being used once again. The media utilizing the most sensitive topics (health) to sway public opinion against the agenda of President Trump and now, Secretary Kennedy as well.
Under Secretary Kennedy, HHS is changing the tone on public health. Prior to his arrival, this would never have been expected. Simply the fact that Sec. Kennedy is expressing choice as a core tenet of his public health messaging when it comes to vaccination, is a huge step forward. Even going as far as endorsing alternative therapeutics in the management of infectious diseases such as measles, signifying major change at HHS.
I am of the opinion that the health authority in the United States is headed in the right direction.
I’m 72 years old. Until I entered military service in 1971, I had received 2 vaccines, small pox, and tetanus. I’ve had mumps, measles, scarlet fever, chickenpox, etc.
I’m 72 years old. Until I entered military service in 1971, I had received 2 vaccines, small pox, and tetanus. I’ve had mumps, measles, scarlet fever, chickenpox, etc.
Big bucks, from the measles vaccine are to be made.