# Anti-vaxxers are ignorant scumbags that kill children **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626 "2016-09-01T01:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 69
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1362 "2025-02-26T22:33:27Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I have mentioned a great grandmother who lost three of six children to diseases that are now preventable. Yes, and I think I’ve mentioned that one of my great-grandmothers lost 5 of 7 kids. Four to disease, and the 5th to starvation while he worked for nearby farmers, if the stories are true. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1363 "2025-02-27T01:43:03Z")
More worrying news just out about Trump administration (Robert Kennedy, Jr.) > **[FDA cancels meeting to select flu strains for next season's shots](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-cancels-meeting-select-flu-strains-seasons-shots-rcna193931)** > > The canceled meeting comes just days after a CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting was abruptly postponed. While it’s possible this is just a short-term meeting postponement, it may not be. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1364 "2025-02-27T02:57:34Z")
How soon before other countries begin to screen, restrict or ban Americans from entry due to the fomenting pandemics in the United States? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1365 "2025-02-27T15:49:45Z")
Pity the parents will never be charged with child endangerment. “Jeeeeesus called him home!” is, I’m sure, the mantra in their circles. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1366 "2025-02-28T05:59:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > If you really are concerned, your doctor could order a titer, which measures your immunity. This. I talked to my nurse practitioner about it today, since I was a small child before measles vaccines were a thing and can’t remember which childhood diseases I had. We’re going to draw blood for a titer when I see her next week, just in case I didn’t ever have it, or whatever immunity I might have had has waned out of existence. Massachusetts has very good vaccination rates, but even so, if I’m not immune I’ll probably get vaccinated for it, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1367 "2025-02-28T16:00:40Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > “Jeeeeesus called him home!” is, I’m sure, the mantra in their circles. He didn’t, though. The parents just drove by Jesus’ house and yeeted the kid over his fence. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1368 "2025-02-28T16:03:13Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > He didn’t, though. The parents just drove by Jesus’ house and yeeted the kid over his fence. You are going to hell for that one. I’ll be right next to you in the handbasket… > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Massachusetts has very good vaccination rates, but even so, if I’m not immune I’ll probably get vaccinated for it, just in case. Good for you! While it’s unlikely you’ll be exposed to measles (since, aside from the incidents we hear about, it really is somewhat rare), if there IS an outbreak, you will help to break the chain of transmission. My mother and the pediatrician were arguing one time, when I was about 14, as to whether I’d had measles. She swore I had, when one of my brothers caught it and shared it. He said my records didn’t document that. Argument solved by immunizing me for it anyway. That was \> 50 years ago; hopefully the immunity has lasted. When I was looking at reproducing, rubella (“German Measles”) was naturally a major concern. I got tested - and the results showed I was NOT immune though Mom had sworn I had it. I went to a clinic to see about getting re-immunized; they checked my titer and I was okay. I told my gyn (who’d done the previous test) and she contacted the lab - and they reran the test on the blood they already had, or something, and it turned out they’d done something wrong the first time and I was indeed immune. For people who don’t vaccinate their kids because “god”… God gave us the scientists who have found ways to prevent these diseases. Refusing that gift is refusing God. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1369 "2025-02-28T16:59:18Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > For people who don’t vaccinate their kids because “god”… God gave us the scientists who have found ways to prevent these diseases. Refusing that gift is refusing God I am so copying that to my own feeds. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1370 "2025-02-28T17:20:04Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > For people who don’t vaccinate their kids because “god”… God gave us the scientists who have found ways to prevent these diseases. Refusing that gift is refusing God. That reminds me of an old joke. A terrible flood forces a man to his roof to avoid the water. A helicopter comes by and tries to pick him up but he tells them, “No need, God will save me.” A few hours later a boat comes and offers to pick him up, again he tells them, “No need, God will save me.” The waters continue to rise and when the man is swept off the roof he cries out, “Why didn’t you save me, God?” And God replied, “I sent you helicopter and a boat. What more did you want me to do?” ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1371 "2025-02-28T17:22:36Z")
“Not send me helicopters and boats from FEMA! I see through your tricks Satan!” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1372 "2025-02-28T17:26:54Z")
I don’t know if I’m crying because that’s funny or crying because that sounds like something that might happen. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1373 "2025-02-28T19:08:47Z")
A note that T and B memory cells, important in immunity to measles, are not measured by routine antibody titers. Incidentally, memory cells to a variety of infectious agents are casualties of measles infection (“immune amnesia”), leading to increased susceptibility to those other pathogens. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1374 "2025-02-28T19:40:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Incidentally, memory cells to a variety of infectious agents are casualties of measles infection (“immune amnesia”), leading to increased susceptibility to those other pathogens. Yes, measles can cause “immune amnesia” which is very alarming: > [@](#): > > The risk associated with measles infection is much greater than the sum of its observable symptoms. The immune memories that you have acquired are priceless, built over many years and from countless exposures to a menagerie of germs. Measles virus is especially dangerous because it has the ability to destroy what’s been earned: immune memory from previous infections. … > **[Measles and Immune Amnesia | ASM.org](https://asm.org/articles/2019/may/measles-and-immune-amnesia)** > > Measles is much more serious than a rash and fever: it also causes immune amnesia and leaves patients especially vulnerable to secondary infection. > [@psychobunny](#): > > Texas has now reported the first death from the current measles outbreak. Another notch in RFK Jr.'s belt. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1375 "2025-02-28T19:42:32Z")
They should revise those old 60s protest signs against LBJ for RFK: Hey, hey, RFK How many kids did you kill today? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1376 "2025-02-28T19:52:01Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Hey, hey, RFK > How many kids did you kill today? ‘Beter dead then artistic!’ ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1377 "2025-02-28T20:13:46Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > But I expect that before the end of the Trump administration we will be discussing outbreaks of much bigger magnitudes–in the hundreds and thousands of cases. I doubt it. With the gutting of all the protective agencies, we won’t see much in the way of tracking or reporting of such outbreaks. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1378 "2025-02-28T23:29:50Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > But I expect that before the end of the Trump administration we will be discussing outbreaks of much bigger magnitudes–in the hundreds and thousands of cases. Okay, this is a bit off topic, but this has been on my mind for a while. I’ve seen statements like the above. To me, it implies that the president has the power to _prevent_ pandemics, not just react to them. And I can see the logic to an extent, but I’ve always thought that we were criticizing Trump’s _reaction_ to a pandemic already ongoing. It seems more logical to me to say, “if another pandemic happens in the next four to six years, we will be woefully underprepared” than “Trump’s presidency will cause a pandemic where one would not have happened under Harris.” (Unless we’re saying that he’ll actually pull a China conspiracy theory and release Captain Trips, but that seems to be another topic entirely.) Am I making sense here? I thought this in another thread (about financially preparing for another pandemic to happen under Trump) and I just don’t think the connection is all that strong. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1379 "2025-02-28T23:32:15Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Given how fast measles spreads, I’m surprised that, despite the overall vaccination rate, we haven’t seen 130 cases become 13,000 in the past two weeks’ time. I would guess Texas is not at 95% vaccinated. Statewide average for kindergartners in Texas is just under 95%. But it varies a lot: the outbreak started in a county with [82% vaccination](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5312088/measles-texas-outbreak-contagious-spread). Happily most (not all) counties surrounding it have 90 or 95%+ vaccination rates. Measles vaccination rates among kindergarteners vary a lot by state. West Virginia wins the prize at 98.3%. Idaho’s is a scary 79.6%. Blue states tend to be better vaccinated than red states, but the relationship is far from perfect: Minnesota is in the bottom 5. Colorado is in the bottom 10. > **[Measles is a state problem - Kevin Drum](https://jabberwocking.com/measles-is-a-state-problem/)** > > Over the past few years the rate of measles vaccine coverage among kindergarteners has dropped nationally from 95% to 92.7% in the latest school year. This decline started during the COVID pandemic but has persisted ever since. The exemption rate for... [![](https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/blog_measles_vaccine_by_state_2023_24.jpg) ](https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/blog_measles_vaccine_by_state_2023_24.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1380 "2025-03-01T00:38:35Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > it implies that the president has the power to _prevent_ pandemics, not just react to them If the pandemic is with a disease that we have an effective and safe vaccine for, and the pandemic appears because the president’s regime is anti-vax, then it is the president’s (among other’s) fault. The president absolutely has the power to prevent some pandemics, and to put in place policies and actions to deal with new ones. Instead, they’ve disrupted production of next year’s flu vaccine, halted research into new COVID vaccines, and cut funding for CDCs work on detecting emerging diseases. > **[FDA cancels advisory committee meeting on flu vaccine strain selection](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/influenza-vaccines/fda-cancels-advisory-committee-meeting-flu-vaccine-strain-selection)** > **[Multimillion-dollar Biden-era COVID-19 vax project halted by Trump’s HHS](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/multimillion-dollar-biden-era-covid-vax-project-halted-trumps-hhs)** > > Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. paused a $240 million contract to create a new coronavirus vaccine. > **[CDC 'disease detectors' among hundreds fired as Trump administration ramps up...](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/cdc-disease-detectors-fired-trump-administration-agency-cuts-doge-rcna192420)** > > Administration officials last week informed CDC leaders of plans to cut up to 10% of its workforce as it targeted federal probationary employees. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626/1381 "2025-03-01T01:07:19Z")
The last line on that graph does not surprise me at all. I think everyone leaving that state should be in isolation for at least 60 days…and everyone entering that state with intent to stay should have their head examined. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-vaxxers-are-ignorant-scumbags-that-kill-children/764626.md?page=70)