Thursday, September 01, 2016
Measles From Bieber Show?
Pollstar: Japanese fans who attended Justin Bieber's concert Aug. 14 at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in a Tokyo suburb may have left the venue with more than just fond memories of the Canadian singing idol. They may have taken home a virulent case of the measles.
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5 comments:
The title seemed humorous but this is in fact a very alarming article to read. However, I'm not quite sure how to respond. On one hand, people should not go to public events when they are feeling ill, but then again, how would someone know they have such a rare illness?! For example, my best friend this year got TB which is a commonly thought of a long gone disease. After going through the process of TB screening for her close family and friends (myself included), I learned how scary some of these "long gone" diseases can be. In America it is not required or even common to vaccinate people for Tuberculosis, so when a case does pop up outbreak can happen quickly. I guess this article helps illustrate that it is important to take care of yourself and be aware of your surroundings particularly in large crowds. I hope everyone in the area is getting proper treatment for Measles.
To me this event just exemplifies that vaccines are necessary. We live in a world with a high population, especially in a country like Japan where, whether you're at a concert or not, you're surrounded by people. And in my opinion, if you're not vaccinated, you're a liability to many other people, especially if the trend is not to vaccinate and they aren't either. I understand that there's much controversy about vaccines and whether or not they cause autism- but the CDC has come out and said that the ingredients in vaccines don't cause it. However, you can believe what you want to believe. But if you do, just look at the consequences of reverting to an unvaccinated world. Events like this scare me in terms of the arts. If people are afraid of outbreaks like this, then they will certainly fear attending live events, degrading concerts and live theater, especially when measles is so much more contagious than the flu.
I’m sorry, but as the other comment said above, there seems a underlining of ridiculousness of the whole thing. Don’t get me work this is a very serious situation. Airborne viruses, like the measles, are very hard to prevent already, without having them spread in, I think could be, one of the largest public events. I have to think that there was a possibility that the person who had the measles originally went to the concert deliberately knowing they were sick, not particularly with measles but sick nonetheless. According to the Mayo Clinic website, symptoms of measles appear 10 to 14 days after being infected by measles, until then there are no signs. And according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, a person is most contagious four days before and four days after the rashes appear, until then the virus is incubating. Also according to the Mayo Clinic, before that, the possibility of nonspecific symptoms like mild fever typically that lasts two to three days. I’m not saying that the person did in fact go to the concert knowing that there was a possibility of him having measles, but the fact there is a chance. I guess there is a lesson of being careful, but knows, maybe it was unavoidable.
This is quite the story, although I'm not entirely sure if it classifies as, "news." People are infected with virus's everyday, and that is why we have vaccinations. A key note to take from the article, is that in a developing area, the vaccines are optional, which automatically going to spark trouble. Add that to a large space of people, not much less than obtaining a virus is expected. Health is something that is extremely important, but is also in the hands of the citizens to be safe, and remain healthy. It is to be taken very seriously. Above Alexa makes a good point that someone chose to go to a concert instead of taking care of themselves, which alone is already inconsiderate given that there is a chance they may have been sick before.
This story while on the surface feels like click bait, does bring up the interesting question of which is more important public health or personal freedoms. While on one hand personal freedoms are important in the modern world, does Japans choice to change the law regarding vaccinations in the mid-’90s make childhood immunization optional have more positive externalities than negatives. While on its face the law seems to innocuous enough by letting people choice how to handle their children's health, it becomes far murkier with the inclusion of contagious viruses. This danger is shown by the fact the over the past decade there have been multiple occasional outbreaks of measles, some of which have even spread overseas. Logic seems to suggest that the public good should be of more import than ones personal freedoms. I would propose that good public health is a public good that should be funded by taxation, however instead of a financial cost I would state that the tax is that of being vaccinated. While I understand the wish for personal freedom I simply cannot agree with the choice to allow one persons liberties to be harmful and detrimental to the rest of society.
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