In parts of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency Tuesday following a measles outbreak. The outbreak is reportedly affecting the Orthodox Jewish community. The media and public officials say the outbreak is due to a growing movement against vaccinations.

Last week, the city ordered religious schools and day care programs in the affected communities to exclude unvaccinated students or risk being shut down.

The City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is expected to check vaccination records of people who may have been in contact with infected patients. The mayor said the city would issue violations with potential fines of $1,000 for those who don’t get vaccinated.

The order applies to anyone who is working, living, or going to school in the ZIP codes of the neighborhood of the outbreak. The order requires unvaccinated people of the areas to get the vaccine. The order also applies to children more than six months old.

The city can’t legally force anyone to get vaccinated but officials say they can impose the $1,000 fine for those who choose not to vaccinate.

If people will simply cooperate quickly, nobody will have to pay a fine.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio

Dr. Oxiris Barbot is the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She blames the outbreak on “a small group of anti-vaxxers” in the targeted neighborhoods. The commissioner is empowered by law to issue such orders in cases when they might be necessary to protect against a serious public health threat.

They have been spreading dangerous misinformation based on fake science. We stand with the majority of people in this community who have worked hard to protect their children and those at risk.”

Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot

This is the epicenter of a measles outbreak that is very, very troubling and must be dealt with immediately. The measles vaccine works. It is safe, it is effective, it is time-tested.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio

News reports say that the measles virus was introduced into the community by a person who contracted the disease in Israel, which is said to also be dealing with a measles outbreak.

There are two measles-containing vaccines used in the United States. We have the MMRII by Merek which is a live virus combination measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. We also have the ProQuad option also produced and distributed by Merck, which is a live virus combination measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMR-V) vaccine. Both products are produced and distributed by Merck.

Merek says both vaccines are safe to be given to children of age one year or older, but the New York order includes children six months or older to be vaccinated.

The World Health Organization says more than 110,000 people, mostly children, died of measles worldwide in 2017. The last recorded death in the United States from measles was in 2015.

We cannot find vaccine damage statistics at this time. Septics say they are grossly underreported, but the damage and death statistics are not made public. According to the CDC, from 2006 to 2017 more than 3.4 billion doses of vaccines were distributed in the U.S.  Of the petitions filed within 2006 to 2017, 6,253 petitions were adjudicated by the vaccine Courts, with 4,291 compensated.

Related:

• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• Vaccines, Retroviruses, DNA, and the Discovery That Destroyed Judy Mikovits’ Career
• The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness
• MMR Vaccine Causes Seizures in 5,700 U.S. Children Annually, Says Study
• Autism, Gut Health, Obesity, the MMR Vaccine, and Andrew Wakefield

From the National Vaccine Information Center: Can Measles Vaccine Cause Injury & Death?

Serious complications reported by Merck in the ProQuad(MMR-V) product insert during vaccine post-marketing surveillance include⁶:

• measles;
• atypical measles;
• vaccine strain varicella;
• varicella-like rash;
• herpes zoster;
• herpes simplex;
• pneumonia and respiratory infection;
• pneumonitis;
• bronchitis;
• epididymitis;
• cellulitis;
• skin infection;
• subacute sclerosing panencephalitis;
• aseptic meningitis;
• thrombocytopenia;
• aplastic anemia (anemia due to the bone marrow’s inability to produce platelets, red and white blood cells);
• lymphadenitis (inflammation of the lymph nodes);
• anaphylaxis including related symptoms of peripheral, angioneurotic and facial edema;
• agitation;
• ocular palsies;
• necrotizing retinitis (inflammation of the eye);
• nerve deafness;
• optic and retrobulbar neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve);
• Bell’s palsy (sudden but temporary weakness of one half of the face);
• cerebrovascular accident (stroke);
• acute disseminated encephalomyelitis;
• measles inclusion body encephalitis;
• transverse myelitis;
• encephalopathy;
• Guillain-Barré syndrome;
• syncope (fainting);
• tremor;
• dizziness;
• paraesthesia;
• febrile seizure;
• afebrile seizures or convulsions;
• polyneuropathy (dysfunction of numerous peripheral nerves of the body);
• Stevens-Johnson syndrome;
• Henoch-Schönlein purpura;
• acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy;
• erythema multiforme;
• panniculitis;
• arthritis;
• death

Serious complications reported by Merck in the MMRII product insert during vaccine post-marketing surveillance include⁹:

• brain inflammation (encephalitis) and encephalopathy (chronic brain dysfunction);
• panniculitis (inflammation of the fat layer under the skin);
• atypical measles;
• syncope (sudden loss of consciousness, fainting);
• vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels);
• pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas);
• diabetes mellitus;
• thrombocytopenia  purpura (blood disorder);
• Henoch-Schönlein purpura (inflammation and bleeding in the small blood vessels);
• acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy (rare vasculitis of the skin’s small vessels occurring in infants);
• leukocytosis (high white blood cell count);
• anaphylaxis (shock);
• bronchial spasms;
• pneumonia;
• pneumonitis(inflammation of the lung tissues);
• arthritis and arthralgia (joint pain);
• myalgia (muscle pain);
• polyneuritis (inflammation of several nerves simultaneously);
• measles inclusion body encephalitis (a disease affecting the brain of immunocompromised persons);
• subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (a fatal progressive brain disorder caused by exposure to the measles virus);
• Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) (a disease where the body’s immune system attacks the nerves);
• acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) (brief widespread inflammation of the nerve’s protective covering);
• transverse myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord);
• aseptic meningitis;
• erythema multiforme (skin disorder from an allergic reaction or infection);
• urticarial rash (hives, itching from an allergic reaction);
• measles-like rash;
• Stevens-Johnson syndrome (severe reaction causing the skin and mucous membranes to blister, die, and shed);
• nerve deafness (hearing loss from damage to the inner ear);
• otitis media (ear infection);
• retinitis (inflammation of the retina of the eye);
• optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve);
• conjunctivitis (pink eye);
• ocular palsies (dysfunction of the ocular nerve);
• epididymitis (inflammation of the epididymis);
• paresthesia (burning or prickling of the skin);
• death.

A new study has found that a “sugar rush” is not a real thing. In fact, your levels of fatigue after the consumption of carbohydrates increase within 30 minutes.

Researchers in the U.K. and Germany examined results from 31 different studies encompassing nearly 1300 adults and found that those who consumed carbohydrates experienced no positive mood changes. In comparison with those who were given a placebo, the carbohydrate consumers reported lower levels of alertness within 60 minutes of ingestion.

Related: How To Heal Your Gut 

Not A Real Boy

Not only is the sugar rush not real, but there is evidence that regular sugar consumption can lead to higher incidences of depression and anxiety.

A long-term study of 8,000 British civil servants found that men who ate 67 grams or more of sugar daily in a five-year period were 23% more likely to be diagnosed with depression than men who ate 40 grams or less. None of these men had mental health issues before the study began, and the effect sugar had on their mental health remained even after researchers filtered out other possible causes of depression.

Sugar definitely doesn’t help with anxiety. Some of the physical side effects of sugar like blurry vision, difficulty thinking, and fatigue even mimic the signs of a panic attack. Your body is less able to deal with stress. An overactive serotonin system has been linked to social anxiety disorder, and sugar is a well-known serotonin booster. Rat studies have linked sugar consumption to anxiety as well.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

Reexamining Common Myths

People have more access to information than ever before. There’s an increased interest in knowing how our health works. With that, some of the most commonly held beliefs have been or need to be reexamined. We’ve all heard of the “sugar rush.” It’s not real, and you’re more likely looking at a long-term sugar crash.

Sources:

• No such thing as ‘sugar rush’! Sugar worsens mood rather than improving it – University of Warwick
• Sugar rush or sugar crash? A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood – Science Direct
• The Link Between Sugar And Depression: What You Should Know – Psychology Today
• 4 Ways Sugar Could Be Harming Your Mental Health – Psychology Today
• The Sugar-Anxiety Connection You Need To Know About – Mind Body Green

Pennsylvania requires children to receive vaccinations before they attend school. The law requires children to have been vaccinated for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, German measles, mumps, hepatitis B, and chickenpox. To avoid vaccinations parents can get exemptions including medical, philosophical, and religious.

Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach has introduced legislation to eliminate the religious exemption and the “philosophical” exemption. Leach’s bill would not affect the medical exemptions.

The law requires us all to get vaccinated to attend school because that’s the only way we can protect the health of students who are medically unable to get a vaccination. Vaccines are safe. The recent outbreak of mumps and measles reminds us that vaccines are absolutely essential to public health.”

Daylin Leach

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Unvaccinated people under age 18 are banned from public places in Rockland.

Rockland County is a suburban community of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The declaration is an attempt to contain the measles outbreaks that began late last year. Rockland county reports 153 cases since October as of Wednesday.

The declaration will expire in 30 days. Unvaccinated children who get the MMR vaccine are immediately allowed back in public places. County Executive Ed Day said officials will not be stopping people on the street to ask for their vaccination records. He says the ban will be enforced retroactively, with parents facing up to six months in jail and a $500 fine if investigations reveal that they allowed their unvaccinated children into public while the ban was in effect.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

Ed says the goal isn’t to make arrests. He calls the ban an “attention-grabber.”

We’re doing it in such a way to just get attention at this point so that people understand the seriousness of what they are doing — and not doing.”

Ed Day

According to Rockland County’s statistics, of the 153 confirmed cases reported as of Tuesday, March 26th, 82 percent had not received the MMR vaccine. The outbreak has been largely concentrated in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland County.

The CDC says the outbreaks are linked to unvaccinated travelers who brought measles back from Israel and Ukraine, where large measles outbreaks are occurring.

On the 12th a federal judge denied a request from parents to issue a temporary injunction to let 44 unvaccinated children return to a Waldorf School in Rockland County.

State legislation has been introduced to allow minors older than 13 to get vaccinated without parental consent. Minors are currently permitted to get vaccinations without parental consent in Washington, D.C. and six other states.

Related:

• Facebook Planning to Censor Anti-vaccination Posts
• Did CNN Accidentally Post Image Of Vaccine Reaction In Measles Outbreak Article?
• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

A large study looking into how pesticides affect developing fetuses and newborn babies finds that the most commonly used pesticides may result in a higher risk of autism spectrum disorder.

The study, published in the BMJ, was led by Ondine von Ehrenstein, associate professor in the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California.

Researchers looked at the autism registry data and the pesticide use data in California. The study included 38,331 participants with 2,961 cases of autism.

Related: Foods Most Likely to Contain Glyphosate

Eleven “high use” pesticides were selected for examination. Ehrenstein chose these pesticides because previous research with animals found developmental (including fetal) and neurological issues.

Researchers looked at agricultural areas where these pesticides were frequently used. They found that pregnant women who reside within a 2,000-meter radius of such agricultural areas were much more likely to have children with neurological issues.

Prenatal exposure to glyphosate increased odds of having a child with autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disabilities by 30%.

Related: Autism Correlates with Circumcision

Exposure to the common insecticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon, permethrin, methyl bromide, and myclobutanil within the first year of a child’s life increased the odds for autism with comorbid intellectual disability by up to 50%.

 Findings suggest that an offspring’s risk of autism spectrum disorder increases following prenatal exposure to ambient pesticides within 2000 m of their mother’s residence during pregnancy, compared with offspring of women from the same agricultural region without such exposure. Infant exposure could further increase risks for autism spectrum disorder with comorbid intellectual disability.

BMJ

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

This is the largest study but not the first one to show a link between autism and pesticides. The video below is from four years ago:

Researchers at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh believe that a cure for human metapneumovirus (MPV), one of the leading causes of the common cold and other respiratory diseases, may be in our near future.

Researchers are working on a vaccine for MPV.  The virus causes respiratory infections and is said to infect everyone by age 5.

If one of your kids gets a cold around February or March and they bring it home to you, that could likely be MPV or metapneumovirus.”

Dr. John Williams

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

Dr. Williams has been studying MPV since it was discovered in 2001. He is working on the vaccine. Williams says the virus has been around for hundreds of years and can be deadly.

Although most people who get MPV are just going to have a cold, plenty of people – kids and adults – are going to be hospitalized every year and some of them are going to die.”

Related: FDA Admits That Flu Vaccine Vaccines for Pregnant Women Untested, Unlicensed

Right now the child and adolescent Immunization Schedule includes more than 50 shots, as can be seen on the CDC’s web page here. Check out World Mercury Project for a breakdown of what that means.

A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases examined freshly- laundered hospital linens, and found that more than 10 percent of sheets received by a fifth of hospitals studied tested positive for Mucorales, a fungus responsible for potentially serious infections. Cases of healthcare-associated mucormycosis, the infection associated with Mucorales, have been on the rise for the past decade. Previously, scientists have suggested that contaminated medical devices could be a reason for this, but researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have identified hospital linens as another cause of the infection. The study shows that forty-seven percent of frshly delivered healthcare linenes in the hospitals studied contained Mucorales upon arrival.

Cleaning Hospital Linens

Healthcare is a business, and cutting costs is one of the ways a business makes money. In the modern age, that has translated to outsourcing hospital laundry, as the hospital is no longer obligated to pay for the equipment, energy, and manpower needed to wash their linen. Much of the process is now automated.

This automation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if there’s a way to push for more environmentally friendly laundry practices. Still, this study shows there is cause for concern regarding the outsourcing of washing linens.

Recommended: Everything You Need To Know About Fungal Infections

Why Hospitals Breed Pathogens

While the washing of the linens no longer happens in hospitals, it can’t be denied that healthcare facilities are excellent breeding grounds for bacteria and fungus that cause potentially dangerous infections. Hospitals are where people who are dealing with these infections go. It makes sense that those pathogens will be present.

Modern medicine, in particular antibiotics, compounds the issue though. Antibiotics are designed to destroy all of the bacteria in the gut. While this can eliminate the present infection, it also kills the beneficial bacteria that balance the microbiome. There are also pathogens that antibiotics don’t eliminate. Those pathogens grow stronger in the microbiome vacuum created by the antibiotics. In a hospital setting, you don’t even need to take antibiotic yourself to experience these effects. A study from 2016 found that patients were more likely to develop a C.diff (a notoriously hospital-friendly pathogen) infection if the previous occupant of their hospital room or bed was given antibiotics.

Risky Business

People in hospitals are constantly exposed to infection. A frequent source of exposure is improperly cleaned medical devices, but this study adds another culprit into the mix, the linens. We can all agree that we need to limit our exposure to certain microbes, but indiscriminately killing them all leaves us with no natural defenses. Are the number of fungal infections up because there is more dangerous fungus out there? Or is it because we are increasingly ill-equipped to deal with them?

Sources:

• How Clean Are Your Linens? – NEJM Journal Watch
• How Clean Is the Linen at My Hospital? The Mucorales on Unclean Linen Discovery Study of Large United States Transplant and Cancer Centers – Oxford Academic
• Healthcare‐associated outbreaks due to Mucorales and other uncommon fungi – European Journal of Clinical Investigation
• Laundry: The ‘Fastest Growing Outsourced Service’ – Becker Hospital Review
• Antibiotic Side Effects Are Contagious – C. Diff Infections Are On the Rise – Organic Lifestyle Magazine