Samoa measles crisis

[MMDown Under]

55 people have died from measles in Samoa.

RNZ

 

One family lost three young children out of five children.

 

I hope there aren't any cruise ships currently visiting Samoa.

 

I followed a blog where passengers were unaware of measles epidemic in Samoa, when they visited.  

 

So sorry for the people of Samoa.  

[Stickman1990]

Very sad indeed 

 

It’s not just Samoa either - there are health warnings out for Fiji and Tonga as well - so if you are visiting on a cruise this summer check them out and make sure your inoculations are up to date. Better to be safe than sorry 

[lissie]

And it started in NZ - people should e aware of their immunization status and get a booster if required if you are over about 40 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They have closed all Govt Depts and Gvt workers are out vaccinating the population.Cars have been banned from roads and people have to stay home . Anyone needing a vaccination hangs a red flag outside the house and waits for someone to call . The situation is dire indeed.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

They have closed all Govt Depts and Gvt workers are out vaccinating the population.Cars have been banned from roads and people have to stay home . Anyone needing a vaccination hangs a red flag outside the house and waits for someone to call . The situation is dire indeed.

 

2 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Very sad indeed 

 

It’s not just Samoa either - there are health warnings out for Fiji and Tonga as well - so if you are visiting on a cruise this summer check them out and make sure your inoculations are up to date. Better to be safe than sorry 

I hadn't heard that there were health warnings out for Fiji and Tonga as well. 

Measles inoculations weren't standard when my children got their inoculations. However, I did have measles several times when I was a child, despite people saying you could only get it once.  

I read NZ Media, which gives better coverage to the South Pacific islands than Australia. 

[MMDown Under]

The Samoan Government has declared a State of Emergency.  4200 confirmed cases of measles, 62 dead.

 

The government aims to get national immunisation coverage of at least 90% by Friday. 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Are any ships heading up that way shortly ? 

[Stickman1990]

Here’s the CDC status on Samoa

 

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/samoa

 

and the Australian Smart Traveller site 

 

https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/pacific/samoa

 

We are on Crystal Serenity crossing the Pacific ex Papeete in Feb but we’re not stopping in Samoa but will be visiting Tonga and Fiji where there are also Measles warnings in place 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Stickman1990

[Essiesmom]

2 hours ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

Are any ships heading up that way shortly ? 

Regent even Seas Navigator stops in Pago Pago on Jan 7 and Apia on Jan 9.  EM

[Brisbane41]

What I find frustrating about this is that governments around the world will not ban and exclude the extremist fringe groups that promote anti-vaccinations and link it to medical problems without any evidence. In my opinion these groups should be banned from all forms of social media, denied access to media and people and just cut off from society. More people have died from measles than a wild gunmen yet after that incident in New Zealand this year there is a push to ban extremist political groups but where is the push to ban these other movements that cause more damage to society over social media by false and misleading information.

 

If I were running various countries then anti-vaxers,  flat-earthers and all related extremist fringe groups would be banned from social media, web and print advertising, it would be a criminal offence to have public and private gatherings and a criminal offence to circulate their material. It should by multi-million dollar fines for media platforms that aid and support them and jail terms for individuals that push that sort of message.

[MMDown Under]

8 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

 

I hadn't heard that there were health warnings out for Fiji and Tonga as well. 

Measles inoculations weren't standard when my children got their inoculations. However, I did have measles several times when I was a child, despite people saying you could only get it once.  

I read NZ Media, which gives better coverage to the South Pacific islands than Australia. 

Correction - Single measles inoculations were given to My children, but not the combined MMR inoculations which came later. 

I just read an interesting article which said the UK had lost its measles free status.

[Esilef]

We are going to Fiji in February.

 

my 10 year old has autism. No I don’t blame myself for his autism as I had him vaccinated. There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism. There is evidence that those who claim they do are morons and should keep their unvaccinated kids away from mine.

 

i might follow up with the doctor to see if we need any boosters.

 

 

[Suzi66]

4 hours ago, Esilef said:

We are going to Fiji in February.

 

my 10 year old has autism. No I don’t blame myself for his autism as I had him vaccinated. There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism. There is evidence that those who claim they do are morons and should keep their unvaccinated kids away from mine.

 

i might follow up with the doctor to see if we need any boosters.

 

 

My favourite thought is if you want to look at it another way is that in Science, the profession is over-represented by those on the autism spectrum.  For some reason they really go hand in hand (I'm a medical scientist by original profession before I started teaching science).  So autism probably caused vaccines rather than the other way round.

[ilikeanswers]

8 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

If I were running various countries then anti-vaxers,  flat-earthers and all related extremist fringe groups would be banned from social media, web and print advertising, it would be a criminal offence to have public and private gatherings and a criminal offence to circulate their material. It should by multi-million dollar fines for media platforms that aid and support them and jail terms for individuals that push that sort of message.

 

Anti vaxers are a problem but they are a problem because science has eroded its relationship with the general public. Pharamacutecal companies have done bad things that rightly so make people think twice about the medication they offer. The scientific process has been corrupted by the funding model that is why we have tons of inadequate studies giving misleading results while often there is no money or effort put into replicating tests to double check results and on top of that even when everything is done right the reporting of science is a joke. The extremist fringe groups are in complete control of their message whereas scientists let the media take their studies twist them beyond recognition and when the public finds the representation doesn't match the results they blame the scientists and further distrust in science only grows.

 

Dragging people kicking and screaming is not going to fix the distrust people have with science if anything positioning the etremists as the underdogs fighting the elitism of science is confirming the deep story they have created. The science community needs to acknowledge and fix their problems and they need to push for better representation in the media. Every news organisation should at least have a knowledgable science reporter. The funding model needs to change so that scientists don't have to make their living coming up with endless papers to write. There needs to be a contingent out in the public engaging and educating people. Opening a dialogue will get rid of anti vaxers. Most of these Samoan families never had anyone explain to them how a vaccine actually works. The only people who went from church to church to talk to congregations were anti vaxers. No one from any scientific background made that same effort.

Edited December 5, 2019 by ilikeanswers

[GeezerCouple]

11 hours ago, Esilef said:

We are going to Fiji in February.

 

my 10 year old has autism. No I don’t blame myself for his autism as I had him vaccinated. There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism. There is evidence that those who claim they do are morons and should keep their unvaccinated kids away from mine.

 

i might follow up with the doctor to see if we need any boosters.

 

 

 

You might also want to check antibody levels.  Those can indicate that one is *usually* not going to get "it" [whichever disease/vaccine is of interest, not just measles], then there's no need to get a booster.

 

DH and I keep up to date on the various shots/boosters, and also check in with our travel clinic for any location-specific medical issues.

 

When this relatively recent resurgence of measles appeared, we both asked whether we should get vaccinated.  We are of an age where one just "got" measles, because there was no vaccine then, unfortunately.  We each got tested, and there was no need for the vaccine, because we had the "natural" version (and that is NOT a plus; the disease can be very severe... but way back then, there was no choice).

 

So your 10 year old may very well still have the protection from that earlier vaccination.

[Lest we come across as any flavor of anti-vaxxer, we are absolutely NOT.  But if one does not need - and will not benefit from - "additional protection", then there's just no need...]

 

GC

[flick_au]

When I saw my GP in November to check my vaccinations were up to date for December travel, she said the current recommendation was to check measles antibody levels (and get boosters if needed) for almost all international travel due to expected measles outbreaks over the next few months

[Brisbane41]

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Anti vaxers are a problem but they are a problem because science has eroded its relationship with the general public. Pharamacutecal companies have done bad things that rightly so make people think twice about the medication they offer. The scientific process has been corrupted by the funding model that is why we have tons of inadequate studies giving misleading results while often there is no money or effort put into replicating tests to double check results and on top of that even when everything is done right the reporting of science is a joke. The extremist fringe groups are in complete control of their message whereas scientists let the media take their studies twist them beyond recognition and when the public finds the representation doesn't match the results they blame the scientists and further distrust in science only grows.

 

Dragging people kicking and screaming is not going to fix the distrust people have with science if anything positioning the etremists as the underdogs fighting the elitism of science is confirming the deep story they have created. The science community needs to acknowledge and fix their problems and they need to push for better representation in the media. Every news organisation should at least have a knowledgable science reporter. The funding model needs to change so that scientists don't have to make their living coming up with endless papers to write. There needs to be a contingent out in the public engaging and educating people. Opening a dialogue will get rid of anti vaxers. Most of these Samoan families never had anyone explain to them how a vaccine actually works. The only people who went from church to church to talk to congregations were anti vaxers. No one from any scientific background made that same effort.

There is not a problem with the medical evidence at all.

 

The problem is the extreme fringe groups, who are often uneducated fools, and a detriment to the good order of society. If as above you say that the church is facilitating these loonie extremist nuts then the church and various religions aiding them need to be sanctioned and face criminal penalties and fines as well. 

 

For example if a church minister is allowing an anti-vaxer to spread a message to their congregation then it should be made a criminal offence with a mandatory 10 year prison sentence for the church minister who allowed the message to continue.

 

As for the likes of facebook and zukerburg, if the likes of him allow anti-vaxer messages on his platform then he should face fines that seize up to 75% of his wealth as well as 50 years in prison. 

 

If I were writing the laws then that is how it would be.

 

The problem is that so called "free speech" laws are being used in an extreme way that allow these extremist fringe groups to damage a society worst than communism and authoritarian dictatorships. Anyone abusing free speech in order to destroy and counter the good order of society needs to be denied free speech and severely punished to deter others.

 

Large amounts of people around the world are actually dying because of diseases that were once eradicated all because extremist fringe groups are allowed to publish and push anti-vaccination messages. This is not right. On a parallel note there are also people called flat-earthers who are also challenging long held scientific proven facts and making society dumber and less trusting as a result. All these extremist groups need to be outlawed, silenced, locked up. I believe China has some good camps to reeducate them and I would fully support those sorts of camps in Australia to deal with such people.  

[NSWP]

It is unfortunate that third world countries like Samoa continue to suffer from such diseases such as measles.    Even though the more prosperous nations pour money in foreign aid into the countries, the money is often diverted to other uses within, did I say corruption?  Apart from Samoa, look in in our own back yard, PNG.  We give plenty in foreign aid there and not much change.

 

As for anti vaxers, don't get me started, the breed should not exist.

[LittleFish1976]

The current measles epidemic has been going for over a year. There was an alert for measles in the South island of NZ last year/early this year and other countries including Japan also have been affected. It's good practice to get your antibody status checked before you travel - on ships especially there are many people from different places in an incubator as it were, all at risk of infecting each other! My status was fine before travelling this year but a 30 year-old woman I know needed a booster. Any age - just check. Saves both you and the people around you.