Diamondeye wrote:
http://www.wnd.com/2005/06/30768/
http://www.aapsonline.org/index.php/sit ... immigrantsThere are diseases out there besides MMR, and while the policy for legal immigration is that documentation of MMR and other vaccines is required I have not seen any evidence that illegals are being vaccinated upon arrival.
You guys need to start doing your own citing instead of just demanding other people do it.
You realize you're "citing" World Net Daily and a conservative political advocacy group with a whopping 5000 members that was formed to oppose socialized medicine and has, over the years, advocated such stellar medical positions as (i) arguing that human activity doesn't cause global warming, (ii) abortion is linked to breast cancer, (iii) and HIV doesn't cause AIDS?
I think a bare assertion would be preferable than those links.
As for me citing things, though, here you go:
Federal officials say the children are being evaluated and treated and vaccinated as needed. “When children come into the Department of Health and Human Services program, they are given a well-child exam and given all needed childhood vaccinations to protect against communicable diseases,” said a spokesman for the HHS Administration for Children and Families. “They are also screened for tuberculosis, and receive a mental health exam. If children are determined to have any communicable disease or have been exposed to a communicable disease, they are placed in a program or facility that has the capacity to quarantine. If they have mental health problems, they are similarly placed in a specialized facility to meet their needs and not in a temporary shelter.”
Q: Do these children pose a health risk?
A: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that the children arriving at U.S. borders pose little risk of spreading infectious diseases to the general public....However, they may not have received a few vaccines, such as chickenpox, influenza, and pneumococcal vaccines. As a precaution, ORR is providing vaccinations to all children who do not have documentation of previous valid doses of vaccine.
Children receive an initial screening for visible and obvious health issues (for example, lice, rashes, diarrhea, and cough) when they first arrive at CBP facilities. Onsite medical staff are available at CBP facilities to provide support, and referrals are made to a local emergency room for additional care, if needed. Children must be considered “fit to travel” before they are moved from the border patrol station to an ORR shelter.
Children receive additional, more thorough medical screening and vaccinations at ORR shelter facilities. If children are found to have certain communicable diseases, they are separated from other children and treated as needed.
And the facts on the ground do not back up such worries. All children who arrive at a border station are screened for TB with skin tests and chest X-rays; those infected are immediately isolated and treated. So far this year, only three TB cases among unaccompanied children have been reported by federal officials to the Texas Department of State Health Services, says spokeswoman Carrie Williams, and only one case in Arizona, according to a report by Pima County Health Director Francisco Garcia. Such low numbers are not cause for alarm, given that Arizona already sees about 200 cases of TB a year, and Texas sees nearly 1,300.
What about the possibility that the children could spread measles and mumps?...To be on the safe side, all children are vaccinated during their short stay at processing facilities in Texas and Arizona. That happens at least three days before they're sent to different shelters around the country, says Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in an email.
...Some kids have even brought immunization records from their home countries, he says. At the processing centers, vaccinations are updated — everything from measles, mumps and rubella to tetanus, whooping cough and polio.
...Aside from the TB cases, there have been three flu cases and a few gastrointestinal and respiratory issues at the McAllen Processing Center in Texas, says Williams. Of the 4,000 unaccompanied minors processed in Nogales Processing Center in Arizona, there were two flu cases and two chicken pox cases, reports Garcia, who noted that the risk of spread beyond the shelters is low.
In any event, I'm not arguing that there's no risk of serious infectious diseases entering with illegal immigrants. I'm arguing that, given the countries they most come from have vaccination rates at least as high as our own, and the official policy is for unvaccinated illegal immigrant kids to be vaccinated when they get detained, I'm not seeing much reason to believe Rori's suggestion that illegal immigrants are a likely cause of recent outbreaks. Hence my request that he explain what he based that suggestion on.