this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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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."

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[–] [email protected] 149 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

We did, you fossil, until we eradicated it 25 years ago...

[–] [email protected] 42 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Outbreak also had a technical meaning.

Outbreak: When there are more disease cases than what is usually expected:

  • 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.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Fair. But that is using a different definition for outbreak that whats shown on CDCs definition page.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Are you surprised by the lack of consistency or frustrated that we have to live with it?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago

I'm confused... You say Democrats but then go on to describe the behavior of conservatives.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

iF yOu ArEnT a CoMmUnIsT yOUr ScUm

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

Because of two datapoints? You need more than two years, one of which isn't even done yet, to make that kind of determination.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 weeks ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

The point is the number keeps going up as the antivax crowd continues to seep into positions of power like RFK.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

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?!"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

It was officially eradicated in the US in 2000 per NPR

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes the fuck it is, measles was a thing of the fucken past. The reality these fools construct is frustrating.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

You're wrong, but will your pride get in the way of admitting it?

https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

[–] [email protected] 57 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Measles was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, meaning there is no measles spreading within the country and new cases are only found when someone contracts measles abroad and returns to the country.

Literally from the article you just posted.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

According to their other comment, that makes them a democrat

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

But what does the CDC know?

They know a lot more than you, that is for damn sure.

The only way to get it was leaving the country and coming back with it.

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?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Are you fucking brain damaged?

Measles encephalitis can do that to you, so if he's not vaccinated there is a possibility.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Oddly salty about semantics. Measles is just some bullshit we could avoid.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Semantics? More like facts. Apparently they aren't important to salty Democrats anymore.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Measles was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, meaning there is no measles spreading within the country and new cases are only found when someone contracts measles abroad and returns to the country.

Nope

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Yes the fuck it is, measles was a thing of the fucken past. The reality these fools construct is frustrating.

Nope

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. This meant the absence of the continuous spread of disease was greater than 12 months. This was thanks to a highly effective vaccination program in the United States, as well as better measles control in the Americas region.

You egg

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Eggactly the same thing I described.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

You're wrong, but will your pride get in the way of admitting it?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Lol you gonna tell the CDC they are wrong?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Thats in their linked article. So, the CDC is telling them they are wrong.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Gotcha, I was confused about what you were noping.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

Who would've known that Tom Jones would be the voice of reason in 2025?

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 weeks ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You're wrong, but will your pride get in the way of admitting it?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

How do? You too lazy to explain?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Not relevant but since we're doing songs

If you got penis dentata

If you got teeth in your wang

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

In the 14th century I guess

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