TAMPA, FL - NOVEMBER 08: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives a victory speech after defeating Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Charlie Crist during his election night watch party at the Tampa Convention Center on November 8, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. DeSantis was the projected winner by a double-digit lead. (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
While Florida endures a measles outbreak, the state’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, a controversial appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has received backlash for telling parents they are allowed to send unvaccinated children to school.
Ladapo’s advice allowing parents or guardians to decide about school attendance directly contradicts the official recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which calls for three weeks of quarantine for anyone without a history of past infection or immunization.
This advice is also in line with the Florida surgeon general’s previous claims about vaccines that health professionals state pose an unacceptable danger to the health of Florida’s residents.
They include official guidance to evade mRNA Covid-19 boosters based on conspiracy theories that these shots alter human DNA and can cause cancer.
“Dear Parents/Guardians: There is a cluster of measles cases that has been identified at Manatee Bay Elementary,” Ladapo said in a letter to parents and guardians. “The Florida Department of Health (DOH) is continuously working with all partners, including Broward County Public Schools and local hospitals, to identify close contacts. Measles can be transmitted four days prior to the start of symptoms. When measles is detected in a school, it is normally recommended that individuals without history of prior infection or vaccination stay home for up to 21 days. This is the period of time that the virus can be transmitted.”
“Individuals with a history of prior infection or vaccination who have received the full series of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) immunization are 98% protected and are unlikely to contract measles,” he added. “Up to 90% of individuals without immunity will contract measles if exposed. Because of the high likelihood of infection, it is normally recommended that children stay home until the end of the infectious period, which is currently March 7, 2024. As the epidemiological investigation continues, this date could change.”
“However, due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational cost of healthy children missing school, DOH is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance,” he then mentioned. “This recommendation may change as epidemiological investigations continue.
“Broward County School District is prepared to provide continuous learning to all children at Manatee Bay Elementary School whose parents/guardians choose to keep them at home,” Ladapo shared. “If someone in your household contracts measles, all members of the household should consider themselves exposed and monitor symptoms.”
“Because your child may have already been exposed, you should watch your child for signs and symptoms of the disease, including a rash that often develops on the face and neck before spreading to the rest of the body,” he went on to say. “Other symptoms include high fever, which can reach 105°F, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. All children presenting with symptoms of illness should not attend school until symptoms have fully subsided without medication.”
“If you suspect or notice any of the above symptoms, contact your health care provider to receive instructions on how to safely seek medical attention prior to visiting a clinic or hospital,” Florida’s surgeon general warned. “This will prevent additional exposure among other patients. Do not abruptly visit your health care provider or DOH-Broward without contacting them ahead of time. To support parents/guardians in making informed decisions, a document with frequently asked questions is attached to this letter. Sincerely, Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD State Surgeon General.”
Measles has been eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, but the anti-vax movement has led to a surge in measles case nationwide.
“The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis’s lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say,” Dr. Robert Speth, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Nova Southeastern University with over four decades of research experience, told The Guardian.
“His statements are more political than medical and that’s a horrible disservice to the citizens of Florida,” Speth added. “He’s somebody whose job is to protect public health, and he’s doing the exact opposite.”
The backlash caused the Florida Department of Health to publish “clarifying information” in early March, during which it argued that the stay-at-home recommendation was, in fact, given to parents at Manatee Bay Elementary School, and tried blaming the media for “reporting false information and politicizing this outbreak”.
Ladapo was discovered to have personally altered data in a 2022 study of Covid-19 vaccines to incorrectly claim that they can put young men at high risk of cardiac illness or death.
To Speth and many other medical experts, the surgeon general’s risky succession of positions denying the benefits of immunization and vaccination is part of a larger political assault by the right wing, which holds deadly possibilities.
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This is complete hysterical agitprop, absent of the facts. The state had all of nine cases, and it was limited to one county. Mostly it was centered on a solitary school.
Moreover, there have not been any new cases since late February, so it was fully contained quickly. To continue this false hype job sees you guilty of all of the medical irresponsibility you accuse the state surgeon general of committing.