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    VagabondellaKate Dries
    5/06/14 10:53am

    Any discussion of a global resurgence of polio MUST include the fact that US intelligence officials posed as public health officials in Pakistan as part of their reconnaissance to secure Osama Bin Laden, going so far as to secure DNA samples from children in the compound under this ruse.

    From the New York Times:

    After the ruse by Dr. Shakil Afridi was revealed by a British newspaper a year ago, angry villagers, especially in the lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border, chased off legitimate vaccinators, accusing them of being spies.

    And then, late last month, Taliban commanders in two districts banned polio vaccination teams, saying they could not operate until the United States ended its drone strikes. One cited Dr. Afridi, who is serving a 33-year sentence imposed by a tribal court, as an example of how the C.I.A. could use the campaign to cover espionage.

    So, yes, absolutely. Vaccinate your children. But domestic vaccinations are not really at issue here. US intelligence officials using public health as a cover for clandestine opportunities has set back the cause of polio eradication by years, if not decades.

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      KaizykatVagabondella
      5/06/14 11:00am

      I... UGH.

      Then again, this is par for the course. We're not above putting people's health at risk in the name of "national security."

      GIF
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      see you in rach-hell only comments on tswift nowVagabondella
      5/06/14 11:03am

      What the hell. I had no idea this had happened.

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    ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDKate Dries
    5/06/14 11:16am

    We should send them healing crystals.

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      inProductionʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      5/06/14 11:23am

      And prayers. Let's send them prayers.

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      ghostofsiriusblackʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      5/06/14 11:38am

      And encourage a gluten-free diet, too. Heard doing a body cleanse of gluten eradicates all disease.

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    madscientistKate Dries
    5/06/14 11:09am

    If anyone is interested in reading about the history of polio and the development of the vaccine against it, pick up The Cutter Incident.

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      Kate Driesmadscientist
      5/06/14 11:12am

      Good suggestion.

      The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing… The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing… The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio…

      Amazon.com: $17.20

      Buy now

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    nukezeitKate Dries
    5/06/14 10:56am

    It's absolutely disgusting that a large part of the re-spread of polio is due to fundamentalists killing people trying to vaccinate children. If we can't stop violence against those trying to do good, how can we hope to stop this terrible disease? I think a good case study to look at is India vs. Pakistan. Just five years ago, half of all polio cases in the world were in India - to combat this, launched a massive effort involving a surveillance network and almost 2.3 million vaccine administrators, who identified communities falling through the cracks. To counter rumors and misgivings about the vaccine, social mobilizers, religious leaders and parents were included to increase understanding about immunizations. The efforts combined government, various U.N. agencies as well as philanthropic organizations. In short, India educated its people and accepted outside help as necessary. In Pakistan, on the other hand, parents have refused to vaccinate their children because of religious fears and conspiracy theories (which the US hasn't helped with, of course). Moreover, polio workers are killed by terrorists in the FATA and other places on the border.

    Education is what's needed now to eliminate polio.

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      Vagabondellanukezeit
      5/06/14 11:10am

      I agree wholeheartedly, but let's also remember that the paranoia has some basis in fact. The United States used fake public health workers delivering "polio vaccines" to obtain the DNA of children in the Bin Laden compound in Pakistan. There has been an enormous backlash against legitimate public health officials in that country as a direct result of the CIA's ruse.

      So, yes, religious fundamentalists targeting health workers is very bad. But the US is partially responsible for both the uptick in polio in Pakistan, and for those attacks.

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      nukezeitVagabondella
      5/06/14 11:14am

      Agreed, which is why I put the following caveat in my comment: ("because of religious fears and conspiracy theories. which the US hasn't helped with, of course"). Obviously, the US is partially at fault here, but it's important to remember that there were prohibitions against the polio vaccines even before the operation against Bin Laden came to light. The operation itself, however, does provide a valuable bullet in the fundamentalists' arsenal.

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    Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the SnarkKate Dries
    5/06/14 1:25pm

    I blame the anti-vaxxers in no small part for the fact that we're losing ground against diseases like measles and still having a hard time with polio. Their idiotic and unhelpful efforts at spreading misinformation put them in the same category of FUD as creationists to me— impossibly stupid.

    My mom's roommate suffered polio as a teen. He said that Salk came by to visit him after the disease had run its course. He said that Salk asked, "How are you, son?" and his response was, "I'm great doc, but boy do you have lousy timing!" The vaccine had just been released to the public, and he missed it. He said Salk almost started crying, because he felt so terrible for not finishing his work sooner. My mom's roommate said that seeing Salk so affected by it felt terrible, since he was just trying to cope with his own situation, and this now-famous doctor came to visit him for no reason other than to see how he was doing. That's how Salk was, though. This was a guy who saw his work as the work of humanity.

    Of course most anti-vaxxers I meet wouldn't know what a lab looked like if it bit them in their ignorant asses. And the anti-vaxxers have the nerve to say it's all profit-oriented and whatever? Bunch of assholes. Fuck them, and the uneducated horses they rode in on. Fuck them and seeing measles outbreaks in the US. Fuck them all. It's one thing to assume the risk of getting sick as an adult, but putting your kids and others at risk? Fuck you, you selfish dipshits. Go watch people in the throes of polio, or look at photos of smallpox sufferers and tell me that the incredibly low risk of vaccines isn't worth it. Ugh.

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      RockYouLikeAHermanCainAri Schwartz: Dark Lord of the Snark
      5/06/14 6:37pm

      My dad has polio. He's 67 and contracted it in an affluent area of the US three years before the vaccine made its debut. The anti-vax crowd obviously makes me very upset.

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      Ari Schwartz: Dark Lord of the SnarkRockYouLikeAHermanCain
      5/06/14 6:42pm

      Yeah, they can all go suck eggs as far as I'm concerned.

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    Ecchic89Kate Dries
    5/06/14 10:51am

    I'm clearly not as up on this as I should be- but are kids today still vaccinated for polio? I'm in my twenties, and I got all my vaccinations, but I never thought to ask if polio was one of them.

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      goldenraeEcchic89
      5/06/14 10:53am

      Yes they are. And if you're traveling to an area where polio is a risk or work in public health it is recommended that adults get a booster.

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      LaComtesseEcchic89
      5/06/14 11:15am

      Yep! You get your first dose at 2 months, 2nd dose at 4 months, and then the third between 6 and 15 months. Then again when you hit 4 years.

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    xzophiaxKate Dries
    5/06/14 10:58am

    Don't forget about Albert Sabin. Gotta give him a shout out too, he always gets the historical shaft.

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      CurieCatKate Dries
      5/06/14 11:07am

      Well, at least they don't have autism!

      *rages inside as children die of preventable illnesses*

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        BerndKate Dries
        5/06/14 10:51am

        Even though I'm fully vaccinated, this always freaks me the hell out. I work with public from around the world every day. I get their weird flus. I could carry their illness to my very young, not old enough to be vaccinated goddaughter (I'm aware that chance is small, but still)

        The last thing I want to see is someone on staff, or another visitor who couldn't get vaccinated, get sick because of this. Blech.

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