Searching to find one bit of family lore, I inadvertently verified one of the most tragic events in our family annals.
Mom grew up with four siblings. But there was another child in the family who died before she was born. Being the clueless doofus that many of us are when we neglect to ask parents and grandparents about their lives, I am not sure whether the missing kid was a boy or a girl.
But determined genealogists have provided resources to aid such searches. Some have worked to gather and post the information about the occupants of cemeteries throughout the nation.
So, knowing that Mom was born in Marshall County [Madill], I started my macabre quest there and gradually expanded into neighboring counties. I did not find my missing aunt or uncle.
What I did find was the documentation for the sad story concerning the deaths of four of Mom’s cousins within an 11-day span in 1911. In pre-vaccine days, some people thought that exposing children to infectious diseases would provide them with immunity.
So, when a neighbor’s children came down with measles, my great-aunt took her four children – ages 6, 4 and 2 [twins] – over to catch the disease. The first child on June 6, 2011; the next two on June 10, and the last child on June 16.
Family lore being what it is, we were told that, after the last funeral, our aunt came home, sat down at the piano and played long into the night.
So, our family has a long familiarity with the concept of herd immunity – doing nothing to stem the spread of a disease so that it can weed out weaker individuals and make the gene pool of the human herd stronger.
Too bad, Doodad, if you or a loved one fails the test.
Within the last year, measles has become a scourge across the county as misinformation – and downright lies – about supposed dangers from vaccines have gulled folks into eschewing childhood vaccination schedules. We must wonder if unqualified influencers take a pernicious pleasure in seeing disease rates climb as people follow their advice.
A measles outbreak last summer in far West Texas sickened 762 people and resulted in the deaths of two unvaccinated children – with the father of one of them proudly maintaining he would still do nothing differently if given another chance.
As of Jan. 30, PBS reported 876 confirmed cases in South Carolina, “one of the biggest measles outbreaks the U.S. has seen in decades.”
Interviewed by PBS, Katelyn Jetelina [Your Local Epidemiologist] cautioned that, “While the current surge may be slowing, doctors warn there are still serious risks for vulnerable populations.”
She blamed “pockets, and these pockets are getting larger and larger, of low vaccination rates.”
After the U.S. reached measles elimination status in 2000, too many folks have decided that risking their children’s health lives in the name of politics or religion is an acceptable gamble.
“We have a highly effective and very safe vaccine,” Jetelina said, “far safer than the virus itself.”
Calling measles “the most contagious virus in the world,” Jetelina said the disease “can cause hearing loss, it can cause death, but it can also wipe out your immune system memory,” which makes a person more susceptible to more serious reactions to flu or other viruses.
A recent comprehensive study by NBC News showed, “Decades of immunization progress is backsliding, … threatening the safety of children in America, burdening schools and hindering public health.”
The threat to public health is real – and innocent victims become collateral damage to ignorant instigators.
A famous case involves actress Gene Tierney. At a public appearance in 1943, Tierney met a fan who had ignored her own measles infection in order to see a favorite star. Tierney contracted the disease, and her daughter, Daria, was born prematurely and was deaf, partially blind and suffered severe mental retardation.
The woman later met Tierney and laughed about the encounter. Tierney, somehow, did not strangle the woman on the spot, but Agatha Christie used the incident as a plot line.
The dangers of measles are well-documented. The safety and effectiveness of the vaccine also have been established.
Last November NBC News interviewed Dr. Kate O’Brien, director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals. She said, “It’s crucial to understand why measles matters,” that reason being its highly contagious nature “signals that gaps are almost certainly likely for other vaccine-preventable diseases like diphtheria or whooping cough or polio, even though they may not be setting off the fire alarm just yet.”
In fact, the recent NBC news project noted, “Whooping cough cases soar as vaccination rates drop.”
Vaccine conspiracy theorists are doing their jobs. They abetted by the pro-ignorance policies of President Donald Trump, who pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, probably because factual data refutes his constant lying.
And Trump-speak disinformation will likely get worse soon.
Matt Shuham of HuffPost reported recently on a new worker classification that will strip “tens of thousands of highly skilled government employees of job protections.”
By making their jobs “policy-influencing,” Trump will make them “fireable based on their supposed infidelity to the president’s agenda.”
Shuham foresees climatologists in the crosshairs, but health scientists are similarly dedicated to the truth and at odds with the greed, graft and grift of the current administration.
We have seen this act before. Last August Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – the completely unqualified secretary of Health and Human Services – fired Dr. Susan Monarez, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because she opposed his anti-vaccine propaganda.
Then, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, “three of CDC’s foremost experts on influenza, respiratory diseases, and infectious diseases chose to resign rather than accede to RFK Jr. ‘s unscientific and dangerous demands to restrict access to lifesaving vaccines for children.”
Her sentiments were shared by one of those who resigned. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said, “Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability for vulnerable children and adults.”
Vaccines work. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to curb viral stupidity.
In many cases, confusion comes from the spread of misinformation—content that is inaccurate but not necessarily intended to deceive.
Learn more in our guide: What Is Misinformation?
