Mennonite Measles in Texas

[Soloist]

That didn't used to be the case 20-30 years ago.

Measles has only started to make a comeback in the US since anti-vaxers like Kennedy have increased their influence and helped drive down vaccination rates in the US with their lies and misinformation.

Honestly, the numbers are publicly available and the data doesn’t line up with what you’re saying.
We never had a year without a measles outbreak and aside from the outliers the trend has been fairly consistent.
Could that change? yes especially with funding cuts threatened to the CDC who does the hard work of tracing it out to keep it from spreading.
But let’s not be misleading about what the data says.

[Ken]

These are the publicly available numbers from the CDC. And the spike in measles in 2014 and 2019 and now in 2025 corresponds to declining vaccination rates over the past 10 years:

It's not the vaccinated kids getting measles in Texas. It is the unvaccinated ones.

[Robert]

It's not the vaccinated kids getting measles in Texas. It is the unvaccinated ones.

Measles in itself is not a death warrant. Only 2% die. That number is much lower now with modern treatments.

[Ken]

It's not the vaccinated kids getting measles in Texas. It is the unvaccinated ones.

Measles in itself is not a death warrant. Only 2% die. That number is much lower now with modern treatments.

So if 100 kids get measles, two on average are going to die?

That sounds like a death warrant for those 2 kids who didn't themselves choose to not get vaccinated.

And the actual modern treatment is to get vaccinated so you don't get it in the first place. There is no modern treatment for the disease once you get it other than let it run its course. It is a virus not a bacteria so antibiotics are useless.

[R7ehr]

It's not the vaccinated kids getting measles in Texas. It is the unvaccinated ones.

Measles in itself is not a death warrant. Only 2% die. That number is much lower now with modern treatments.

So if 100 kids get measles, two on average are going to die?

That sounds like a death warrant for those 2 kids who didn't themselves choose to not get vaccinated.

And the actual modern treatment is to get vaccinated so you don't get it in the first place. There is no modern treatment for the disease once you get it other than let it run its course. It is a virus not a bacteria so antibiotics are useless.

How about ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine?

[Soloist]

Measles in itself is not a death warrant. Only 2% die. That number is much lower now with modern treatments.

So if 100 kids get measles, two on average are going to die?

That sounds like a death warrant for those 2 kids who didn't themselves choose to not get vaccinated.

And the actual modern treatment is to get vaccinated so you don't get it in the first place. There is no modern treatment for the disease once you get it other than let it run its course. It is a virus not a bacteria so antibiotics are useless.

How about ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine?

The guidelines are mostly supportive care although antivirals are starting to be used more but there isn't a lot of research for their effectiveness.
Ivermectin has been shown to be very effective supporting measles victims by curing their cows and horses of worms and their friends from Africa have received treatment with hydroxychloroquine to improve their chances when getting measles that they don't also have Malaria. Both of these interventions have been showed to improve outcomes for the treated.

[JohnH]

It's not the vaccinated kids getting measles in Texas. It is the unvaccinated ones.

Measles in itself is not a death warrant. Only 2% die. That number is much lower now with modern treatments.

So if 100 kids get measles, two on average are going to die?

That sounds like a death warrant for those 2 kids who didn't themselves choose to not get vaccinated.

And the actual modern treatment is to get vaccinated so you don't get it in the first place. There is no modern treatment for the disease once you get it other than let it run its course. It is a virus not a bacteria so antibiotics are useless.

Is there a prehistoric treatment for the disease?

[Ken]

Measles in itself is not a death warrant. Only 2% die. That number is much lower now with modern treatments.

So if 100 kids get measles, two on average are going to die?

That sounds like a death warrant for those 2 kids who didn't themselves choose to not get vaccinated.

And the actual modern treatment is to get vaccinated so you don't get it in the first place. There is no modern treatment for the disease once you get it other than let it run its course. It is a virus not a bacteria so antibiotics are useless.

Is there a prehistoric treatment for the disease?

Make sacrifices to the gods and pray that your kids don't die?

[JohnH]

So if 100 kids get measles, two on average are going to die?

That sounds like a death warrant for those 2 kids who didn't themselves choose to not get vaccinated.

And the actual modern treatment is to get vaccinated so you don't get it in the first place. There is no modern treatment for the disease once you get it other than let it run its course. It is a virus not a bacteria so antibiotics are useless.

Is there a prehistoric treatment for the disease?

Pray that your kids don't die?

So, back before vaccinations, Ken, you’re asserting basically most children got measles and 2% of them died?

[Ken]

Is there a prehistoric treatment for the disease?

Pray that your kids don't die?

So, back before vaccinations, Ken, you’re asserting basically most children got measles and 2% of them died?

I'm not asserting anything. Robert claimed that the disease has a 2% death rate and I didn't question his statistic. But if we want to look at numbers, according to the WHO there were an estimated 107,000 measles deaths worldwide in 2023, mostly unvaccinated children under 5. That seems rather serious to me. That is down from over 800,000 deaths worldwide in 2000, due largely to successful vaccination campaigns in many countries where measles was endemic. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-shee ... il/measles

So there are millions of people who are alive today thanks to the measles vaccine. That also seems significant to me. Your mileage may vary.