The Measles Outbreak and Dr. Ladapo: Time for Vindication?
Remember back in March when there was a small outbreak of measles linked to an elementary school in Broward County where 10 cases were reported.
Florada’s Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, tried to down play the fear mongering that the media were spreading and wrote a letter to the parents of the school district and made the suggestion that they might keep their child from attending school to prevent a possible infection. This advice shocked the public health community to its core, as the standard response since the vaccine became “mandatory” has been to forcefully exclude children for at least two weeks who have not received the MMR vaccine. The equal treatment of vaccinated and unvaccinated students appears to have been an intolerable suggestion.
In nearly all measles outbreaks both vaccinated and unvaccinated people have contracted the infection.
Ladapo’s statement in support of parents making the call to not be throttled by measles fear made headlines around the country, some warning that his actions would be devastating and some calling for his resignation. What of those predictions?
An outbreak never culminated, the media dropped the subject entirely. Did Dr. Ladapo make the correct call? That’s a question to put toward your journalist who called for the good doctor’s head.