'It's not unusual': RFK Jr. comments on growing Texas measles outbreak
When questioned about a growing measles outbreak in West Texas that has claimed at least one life, Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters "we have measles outbreaks every year."
https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/-it-s-not-unusual-rfk-jr-comments-on-growing-texas-measles-outbreak-232983109592Open linkView original on lemmy.world253
Comments51
We did, you fossil, until we eradicated it 25 years ago...
RFK Jr is a dumbass but the US has always had measles cases. There were 285 of them last year.
"Eradicated" has a technical meaning and its different than a lay reading.
Outbreak also had a technical meaning.
For a given time (e.g., within 2 weeks)
Within a specific location (e.g., linked by institution, affiliation, exposure, small geographic area)
If outbreaks were normal, it wouldn’t be an outbreak.
The CDC recorded 16 outbreaks in 2024.
Again, RFK Jr is a fucking clown and I wouldn't trust him to watch my dog but technically he's correct here.
Fair. But that is using a different definition for outbreak that whats shown on CDCs definition page.
Are you surprised by the lack of consistency or frustrated that we have to live with it?
Because of two datapoints? You need more than two years, one of which isn't even done yet, to make that kind of determination.
That is a problem Democrats have. They have a holier-than-thou complex and then even when they are proven wrong, they refuse reality because they can't imagine ever being wrong.
I'm confused... You say Democrats but then go on to describe the behavior of conservatives.
I was with you in your other comments and then you had to generalize an entire population of people. Hivemind idiots on the internet doesnt mean you can do that.
Not every Democrat is a hivemind idiot, but a big enough percentage that It contributed to their loss. Harris was one as well. Biden, "you ain't black" definitely.
You have no idea the distribution of idiocy between Republicans and Democrats give me a break. Its all vibe based on your specific newsfeed.
With a constantly changing narrative for each party im not sure how people even associate themselves with either party outside of voting for president/congress/senate. The more specific you get the more irrelevant it becomes.
iF yOu ArEnT a CoMmUnIsT yOUr ScUm
Which was nearly five times as many as the year before, and a tiny fraction of the cases from 1990.
There weren't any "outbreaks" in 2023, so right there that proves his statement false, at least if we're being as pedantic as you.
You want to know how we keep measles outbreaks low? By responding to them and not hand-waving them away.
The point is the number keeps going up as the antivax crowd continues to seep into positions of power like RFK.
Longer that that I think. I'm 54 and am just now learning what measles is, hadn't much of a clue. Disease that makes kids spotty and not my fucking problem because we were all vaccinated? Kinda like grandma's smallpox scar. "Fuck is that?!"
It was officially eradicated in the US in 2000 per NPR
I remember it being really strange to me as a kid that there were a lot of film and TV shows where a kid would get either the measles or mumps and then have padded cheeks, and I had no idea what these illnesses were and never heard of anyone getting them. I think my mom at some point said it was more common in the 60s or 70s. That was back in the 80s mostly they really don't even show up in any 90s written stuff, and I'm sure a lot of it was reruns from the 60s or old teen comedies, (not the sexy or unedited for TV kind)
These fuckers really want to bring back the 50s polio and all.
Yes the fuck it is, measles was a thing of the fucken past. The reality these fools construct is frustrating.
You're wrong, but will your pride get in the way of admitting it?
https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
Literally from the article you just posted.
The person I responded literally said it was a thing of the past. They are wrong. You are in denial. If actually clicked on what eliminated means, it clearly states that it means it does not continue to spread for more than 12 months. That means, as long as an outbreak stops spreading within a 12 month period then it is still considered eliminated.
What's your point? A couple hundred cases a year is a data point and according to the CDC (but what do they know?) makes it effectively eliminated in the US. The only way to get it was leaving the country and coming back with it. That is for all intents and purposes a thing of the past. It's cute how badly you want to be right about this but you just aren't.
According to their other comment, that makes them a democrat
They know a lot more than you, that is for damn sure.
The most common way to get it is is leaving the country & contracting it.
It doesn't mean that people still can't get it other ways since it is a viral infection and still can spread.
Did you know that if all 350 million Americans are vaccinated against measles that 10.5 million of them are still able to catch it?
Are you fucking brain damaged?
Obviously the CDC knows more than I do about communicable diseases, that's why I made that sarcastic reply while agreeing with their findings. You were the one that was questioning their language.
It flat out says in that quote the only new cases were from individuals that had traveled outside the country and contracted the disease there. That doesn't mean that it's impossible to spread otherwise, it means that it did not happen. That was up until a bunch of dipshits started deciding that they their kids didn't need the measles vaccine.
The whole point of herd immunity is vaccinating everyone so that the probability of anyone catching it is so low that it is eradicated from the populace. If no one has it, there is nothing available to catch. If only a few people have it then the vast majority of vaccinated individuals either will not catch it or will have drastically diminished symptoms. This is not that difficult.
Measles encephalitis can do that to you, so if he's not vaccinated there is a possibility.
Oddly salty about semantics. Measles is just some bullshit we could avoid.
Semantics? More like facts. Apparently they aren't important to salty Democrats anymore.
Nope
Lol you gonna tell the CDC they are wrong?
Thats in their linked article. So, the CDC is telling them they are wrong.
Gotcha, I was confused about what you were noping.
Why don't you go click on the link that explains what elimination is when it comes to measles. It doesn't mean there has been no new cases as you're trying to claim.
Your statement is wrong. You are wrong. If you can't admit reality, then stay in denial as long as you need to.
You egg
Eggactly the same thing I described.
And when I said "a thing of the past" you assumed I meant it exists in no capacity. When what that means is its not a problem anymore.
Prob because that is exactly what "a thing of the past" means by definition.
You're wrong, but will your pride get in the way of admitting it?
Smallpox could come back and these fuckers would point at numbers 150 years ago and say it's not unusual.
Who am I kidding: they don't even have to point at numbers. They just say the lie enough times.
It’s not unusual
Who would've known that Tom Jones would be the voice of reason in 2025?
Funny how the numbers don't actually back up what the "HHS Secretary" is saying. One would think he would be able to access this data, and speak factually. Maybe he's not that good at using search engines. I searched "measles cases US historically" on DDG, and chose the first result. Sometimes that sort of lengthy and involved process can be difficult, for some people, at some times. Maybe RFK jr. isn't well suited to this position.
Measles cases in the United States https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-measles-cases
Edit: I'm thinking I'll use quotes to indicate these "post turtles" when they come up in discourse, to indicate that they really aren't where they are suppose to be.
Post Turtle: A "post turtle" refers to a metaphor used in political discourse to describe someone in a position of power who is there due to external support rather than their own abilities, suggesting they are out of their depth and unable to function effectively. The phrase originates from a joke about a turtle balanced on a fence post, implying it didn't get there by itself.
It’s not unusual to give pox to anyone
🎺🎺🎺
It’s not unusual to give polio to them
So when I see out and about unvaccinated, it’s not unusual to see me cry
You’re gonna die
Not relevant but since we're doing songs
If you got penis dentata
If you got teeth in your wang
If you had 14 outbreaks the previous year, and now you see one, then no it is not uncommon to have a few each year.
Put the outbreaks on a graph. Look at the year on year changes. Come back when you have learned to read data you incompetent prick.
You're acting like the incompetent prick. If you think it'll prove something then by all means do it. The CDC URL I linked to already had charts.
You're wrong, but will your pride get in the way of admitting it?
How do? You too lazy to explain?
In the 14th century I guess