Measles spread on Hawaiian Airlines flight

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Health officials are trying to find about 250 people who may have been exposed to measles on a flight from California to Hawaii.

The San Diego Union-Tribune said Hawaiian Airlines flight 15 from San Diego to Hawaii last Saturday included a infant who contracted the illness in a San Diego medical clinic. The child is being treated on a military base in Hawaii.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County's public health officer, said officials are most concerned about children who have not been immunized.

The outbreak began when a 7-year-old returned to San Diego from a family vacation in Switzerland Jan. 15 infected with measles, the newspaper said. The 7-year-old set off a chain reaction that has infected two siblings and at least one classmate.

San Diego County health officials said they've confirmed measles in five patients and investigating five suspected cases.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

Yikes.....scary.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Wow, that's scary alright.

Does the U.S. have a free national immunisation programme?

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Wow, that's scary alright.

Does the U.S. have a free national immunisation programme?

You are kidding, right?

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

You are kidding, right?

Errr....no. I honestly don't know. Does your response mean, of course you do, what a silly question; or of course not, it's too expensive.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Sydney, I am thinking that the "you gotta be kiddin" is just a gut reaction about the silly fact that here in the US we don't provide free health immunization to anyone other than special cases which are usually covered under the welfare program or similar programs.

We don't have a national health care standard, and many of our citizens are either uninsured or underinsured. Even when a person has coverage (such as myself) we don't get any coverage payments for immunizations....I have to pay for flu shots out of my own pocket, nothing is covered by my insurer....but if I got the flu and needed flu prescriptions and to see the doctor, part of my cost would be covered and paid for. But the co-payments are increasing, and "allowed" services are shrinking every day.

Edited to add: our (personal) health insurance is a private insurance for which we pay a good portion of the cost, and then some of it is paid by my husband's former employer (as a retiree benefit).

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

I'm just looking up my baby's health record book and the gov't makes it hard for parents not to get all their kids' immunisation by withholding money like the immunisation payment (one-off payment all parents get paid when their child has all the immunisations) and stopping them from attending school.

Unless the parents officially object in writing with a reason, all Aussie babies have to get the free immunisations offered for hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, pneumococcal, meningococcal, chicken pox, rubella, mumps, measles. They just put chicken pox on the free schedule a few years ago. That's a lot of needles for the poor little things. My 1yr old had 3 needles when he turned one!

We have to pay for our flu vaccines though, $10 for kids, $20 for adults.

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

In the US, schools require that most all kids are fully immunized. BUT some parents can sign a waiver which says for some reason that they don't want their kids immunized. So some kids are immunized.

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

In the US, schools require that most all kids are fully immunized. BUT some parents can sign a waiver which says for some reason that they don't want their kids immunized. So some kids are immunized.

That's pretty much the same system as we have here.