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Antivaccine nonsense Homeopathy

Slapped on the wrist for misrepresenting homeopathic nosodes as vaccines

Jeannette Breen, a certified nurse-midwife, sold homeopathic nosodes as routine childhood vaccinations and got a slap on the wrist for fraud.

In the days before the pandemic—or, as I like to call it, the beforetime—I remember a law passed in California in 2015 known as SB 277. You might remember that this law eliminated nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates. You might also recall that antivaxxers fought this law tooth and nail when it was just a bill being considered in the wake of the Disneyland measles outbreak. You might even recall that, when the bill passed and became law anyway, antivax pediatricians soon pivoted to setting up a cottage industry to write letters endorsing dubious, unsupported medical exemptions for their patients that parents could—and did—submit in large numbers to their children’s schools in order to avoid having to vaccinate their children. You might even remember that Dr. Robert Sears (a.k.a. Dr. Bob) sold these exemptions, even online. You might also remember that naturopaths got in on the action, some even selling homeopathic nosodes as “vaccines.”

Let’s just say that I haven’t seen a story like this one in quite a while, which, oddly enough, I found on Threads rather than X, the Hellsite Formerly Known as Twitter:

Nosodes
Threads?

Let’s go to the story:

Hundreds of parents across New York state who thought they got their kids’ routine vaccinations are learning Thursday that may not be the case, a day after the health department announced a $300,000 penalty against a Nassau County midwife who officials say falsified immunization records. 

According to the investigation, Jeanette Breen, a licensed midwife who operated Baldwin Midwifery in Nassau County, was found to have administered 12,449 fake immunizations to roughly 1,500 school-aged patients as pretext for submitting false information to the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS), health officials said. 

Those fake immunizations were administered before the COVID-19 pandemic so do not include vaccinations for that virus. They do, however, include fraudulent diphtheria, tetanus toxoid-containing and pertussis vaccines (DTaP or Tdap); hepatitis B vaccines; measles, mumps and rubella vaccines (MMR); polio vaccine; varicella (Chickenpox) vaccines; meningococcal conjugate vaccines (MenACWY); booster doses of MenACWY; and the Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccines (HiB) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV).

Some kids were given fake vaccines for flu and hepatitis A also, though those immunizations are not required for school attendance.

It gets even “better.” I turns out that these fake vaccines sound as though they were very likely homeopathic nosodes, which are homeopathic remedies often claimed by quacks to be like vaccines:

Most of the affected children are from Long Island, though the alleged scheme reached as far as Erie County, officials say. It began at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, three months after non-medical exemptions were eliminated for school immunizations. Breen gave the children a series of oral pellets marketed by an out-of-state homeopath in lieu of vaccination, the investigation found. The pellets are not authorized by the FDA, nor approved by the CDC or the state.

According to The New York Times:

The oral pellets in question were marketed as an alternative to vaccination but were not authorized or approved by the federal government as a vaccine against any disease. Ms. Breen administered them as a substitute for vaccinations against hepatitis, diphtheria, polio, measles and other diseases, according to the authorities.

See what I mean when I said that this was most likely homeopathic nosodes? It’s been a while since I’ve written about them other than to mention that Aaron Rodgers tried to claim that he could use them to prevent COVID-19 instead of COVID-19 vaccines, but the word nosode comes from the Greek nosos, or disease; nosodes are a specific type of homeopathic treatment claimed to prevent disease. Regular readers will likely be familiar with the principles of homeopathy and its laws, which include the Law of Similars and the Law if infinitesimals. The Law of Similars is often paraphrased as “like cures like” and states that to cure a disease or relieve a symptom, you treat the patient with something that causes that symptom or disease. (You can probably already see where this is going with homeopathic nosodes, but bear with me a moment.) There is, of course, no scientific basis for a general rule or “Law” that using something that causes a symptom or disease will relieve a symptom or cure a disease. Homeopathy’s founder Samuel Hahneman made that up based on late 18th century beliefs about medicine and how the human body worked.

The Law of Infinitesimals states that dilution makes a remedy stronger. The Law of Infinitesimals is even less plausible or supported by evidence.I also find it the easiest to explain to the uninitiated why this “law” is utter bunk. In brief, the Law of Infinitesimals states that homeopathic remedies become stronger with dilution. Indeed, the process of making a homeopathic remedy involves serial dilution, usually 1:100. The mother tincture (or original compound or medicine) is diluted 1:100 and then shaken vigorously (succussed), the succussion step being claimed by homeopaths to be absolutely essential to “potentize” the remedy. After that, the remedy is diluted again in the same way. Each 1:100 dilution is designated by “C”, such that a 6C dilution equals six 1:100 dilutions. The problem comes with the higher dilutions. For instance, a 12C solution is on the order of a 10-24 dilution ((10-2)12 = 10-24). Many homeopathic remedies are on the order of 30C, which is a 10-60 dilution, or more than 1036-fold greater than Avogadro’s number. Some homeopathic remedies go up to 100C or more, or 10-200. Here’s a hint: The number of atoms in the known universe is estimated to be around 1078 to 1082. The math just doesn’t work, and remedies over around 12C are basically water. “Lesser” dilutions contain so little remedy that it’s highly unlikely that they have a pharmacological effect. How do homeopaths explain this? They then concede that there isn’t any actual remedy left in the “stronger” homeopathic dilutions, but that water retains the “memory” of the substance that it had been in contact with.

So you get the idea. A homeopathic nosode is a homeopathic remedy made from (allegedly) material from diseased tissue diluted until there is nothing left, and then claimed to be able to treat or prevent that disease because the water retains the memory of the disease that had come into contact with it.

As is the case with nearly every post that I write that deconstructs homeopathy, I will include this video of Richard Dawkins, who, whatever you think of his other views (and I don’t think much of a lot of them), did produce the best two-minute explanation of why homeopathy is nonsense:

Still the best explanation for why homeopathy is crap, complete with a reference to…crap.

When Dawkins mentions that homeopaths “boldly paddle further up the creek of pseudoscience,” I can’t help but mention an example of a homeopathic nosode that I wrote about years ago, namely a homeopathic nosode against rabies that was claimed to have been made from the saliva of a rabid dog. I kid you not. Veterinary quacks sell it. (Google Lyssin if you don’t believe me. It’s even sold on Amazon.com as a veterinary rabies preventative.) Again, the idea behind nosodes is to take infectious material from someone suffering from an infectious disease, homeopathically dilute it to nonexistence, and then claim that it prevents that disease. I’ve even seen a homeopathic remedy purported to be made from COVID-19 vaccines that supposedly cures “vaccine injury.”

I had one thought (actually several) reading this story, starting with: So. Many. Questions. First, what is a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) doing administering childhood vaccinations in the first place? Actually, that’s not so surprising. A CNM is an advanced practice nurse with training in midwifery; so presumably Breen could also function as a nurse and advanced practice nurse. I note that the scope of practice for CNPs, as stated by the American College of Nurse-Midwifes, includes a fair amount of primary care:

Midwifery as practiced by certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) encompasses the independent provision of care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period; sexual and reproductive health; gynecologic health; and family planning services, including preconception care. Midwives also provide primary care for individuals from adolescence throughout the lifespan as well as care for the healthy newborn during the first 28 days of life. Midwives provide care for all individuals who seek midwifery care, inclusive of all gender identities and sexual orientations. Midwives provide initial and ongoing comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. They conduct physical examinations; independently prescribe medications including but not limited to controlled substances, treatment of substance use disorder, and expedited partner therapy; admit, manage, and discharge patients; order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic tests; and order medical devices, durable medical equipment, and home health services. Midwifery care includes health promotion, disease prevention, risk assessment and management, and individualized wellness education and counseling. These services are provided in partnership with individuals and families in diverse settings such as ambulatory care clinics, private offices, telehealth and other methods of remote care delivery, community and public health systems, homes, hospitals, and birth centers.

I also note that the same group states:

The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) affirms that all individuals and families should have access to accurate, evidence-based information regarding the role of immunizations in the prevention of disease so they can make informed choices about the use of vaccinations for themselves and their families. Although ACNM respects the rights of individuals to make their own choices regarding immunization, the organization actively endorses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations and guidelines on evidence-based practice in the administration of vaccinations in pregnancy and prevention of communicable diseases.

Of course, belief in quackery—like homeopathy, a.k.a. The One Quackery To Rule Them All (except possibly when reiki vies for the throne)—nearly always goes hand-in-hand with antivax beliefs.

There are three things that bug me about some of these stories, and it’s this. The first is this, per the NYT:

The authorities said that it appeared that many of the parents knew their children were not being vaccinated. “The scheme suggests that the persons in parental relation to the affected children sought out and paid Breen related to their children’s immunizations,” a spokeswoman for the Health Department, Erin Clary, wrote in an email.

Of course. Anyone who pays attention to the antivax movement knows that, almost certainly, all of the parents bringing their children to Breen knew that their children were not being vaccinated. That was the point. They were paying to have her tell the state that she had vaccinated their children, so that they could avoid school vaccine requirements. I suppose it’s possible that a handful of the parents didn’t know, but I find it difficult to believe that any of them were not complicit and didn’t know exactly what they were getting from Breen.

The second part is in the NBC 4 New York story:

Erin Clary, a health department spokesperson, said Thursday that while parents and legal guardians had sought out and paid Breen for her services, they weren’t the focus of the agency’s investigation.

They should be. The parents were trying every bit as much as Breen to violate New York State law. I’ll cite an extreme example. The person seeking out a hit man is just as guilty of murder as the hit man is. Again, these parents knew what they were doing. They were complicit in endangering the children at the schools where their children attended class.

Finally, there is this, which was mentioned above in the Threads thread. (Hmmm. That’s the first time I realized that threads in Threads doesn’t sound right…)

Per the NYT again:

The Health Department said that Ms. Breen had already paid $150,000 of the $300,000 penalty, and that the remainder of the fine would be suspended if she abided by certain terms, including a prohibition on administering vaccines or participating in any schemes to misrepresent vaccination records.

And per NBC New York again:

The agreed-upon settlement reached between the state and Breen is the first of its kind addressing a scheme to create false immunization records, authorities said. It includes a $300,000 monetary penalty and requires that Breen never again administer a vaccination that must be reported to the state’s database. She is also permanently forbidden from accessing that database for any reason. 

Breen declined to comment Thursday. Her attorney, David Eskew, said in a statement that his client “intends to fully comply with the requirements of the agreement.” She had no additional comment regarding the settlement.

“Ms. Breen has provided excellent midwifery services for many years to many families, especially on Long Island,” the attorney’s statement read. “From her perspective, this matter is over, done with, and closed and she is now moving on with her life. She has no comment about the settlement or the conduct beyond what is contained in the settlement stipulation with the Department of Health.”

As part of the settlement, Breen has paid $150,000 of the $300,000 penalty, with the remainder suspended contingent upon her complying with state health laws and never again administering any immunization that must be reported to the state, according to the health department. She’s also permanently banned from accessing the state’s immunization records system.

Oh, and she promises never, ever to do it again:, and if she never does it again she won’t have to pay the full fine:

The remainder of the fine will be suspended if Breen complies with certain stipulations, including refraining from administering immunizations and not participating in any scheme or attempt to misrepresent immunization records, the release said.

Wait, what? Breen committed health fraud, without a doubt, by selling homeopathic nosodes instead of vaccines and then reporting that she had appropriately immunized the children to whom she gave the nosodes, and the only penalties that she suffered are a fine (part of which can be suspended) and conditions imposed by the health department that she never again administer any immunization or access the state’s immunization records system? She knowingly deceived state public health authorities for money, endangering children by given them fake homeopathic vaccines. Remember, some of those children might grow up not to be antivax and think that they were appropriately vaccinated against childhood diseases when in fact they were not. She should have lost both her nursing license and her license to practice midwifery.

Remember how I’ve long bemoaned how toothless state medical boards and law enforcement are when it comes to dealing with quacks? The same, it would appear, is true of nursing and midwifery boards, as well as the New York State Department of Health. How is it that Breen wasn’t hauled before her state board and stripped of her license. Personally, I would ritually burn it in front of her and scatter the ashes at her feet. This woman should not be in any position to provide healthcare for patients. She is an irredeemable antivax quack. If you want to know why state health authorities failed so miserably in reining in medical misinformation and COVID-19 related quackery during the pandemic, this is just another example of the preexisting systemic rot that explains why.

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

49 replies on “Slapped on the wrist for misrepresenting homeopathic nosodes as vaccines”

Not only did parents know this was fraud, but parents were referred by someone to her. Any licensed provider referring to Breen should lose their license as well. Palevsky’s “clinic” is not far from hers.

Re the parents, at a minimum, since the children were not vaccinated and have no medical exemption, under New York law they need to be out of school until they’re vaccinated. There’s a mandate.

According to the stories, New York State is barring the children “immunized” by Breen from school until the parents get them correctly vaccinated or, at least, can show that they are in the process of catching their children up on the missed vaccines. Even so, that seems minor.

But think of those poor parents who now have to take time off and actually take care of their spawn, that is what they pay taxes for to have the schools be their baby sitters when they come down sick.

Also, in addition to your point about the penalty being too low, and I agree, someone willing to falsify medical records should not have a license to practice.

Indeed. This is different than even, say, Dr. Bob Sears writing bogus vaccine exemption letters in California because in that case he wasn’t claiming to have vaccinated the children. True, he might have been making up dubious medical contraindications for vaccination, but sometimes they were semi-defensible. What Breen did was straight up fraud. I don’t care if she really “believed” that homeopathic nosodes work. She knew that what the state requires is the correct vaccines included in the state-mandated (for school) childhood immunization schedule. She misrepresented what she was doing in medical records and in the state immunization database.

Looking for some advice on how to avoid the “meningococcal vaccine”. This vaccine does not even prevent ‘carriage’ and seems wholly unnecessary for most people of regular proclivities who are not into drugs and chemsex, yet it is being pushed on my associate.

For now we filed for religious objection. (it is strongly against my religion obviously)

But I am worried about colleges mandating it.

No one here other than the antivax cranks is going to give you such advice. Most of my readers will call you out for even seeking such advice.

I’ll bite though: The meningococcal vaccine is against your religion? Which religion? I call bullshit.

I think the reasons Igor provided show the objection is not religious, and the request should be rejected for lack of sincere religious objection.

“seems wholly unnecessary for most people of regular proclivities who are not into drugs and chemsex”

In the UK, meningitis is usually portrayed as a parents nightmare for their children. Now, I’m surprised to learn that British childhood is rife with chemsex and unusual proclivities.

Igor, your comment is disingenuous anyway. If there’s no mandate then no need for a spurious excuse. Remember, loud, proud and obnoxious is your ethos.

Thanks. Not all meningitis is from the menigococcal bacteria, but some is.

About 23% of young people carry meningococcal bacteria, but most never get meningitis.

I just checked, in most states of interest to me, there is a religious exception for the meningococcal vaccine.

“The bacteria are spread from person to person by prolonged close contact – such as coughing, kissing or sneezing – with someone who is carrying the bacteria.” NHS website

Not sure where you get your medical info, other than out of your arse, but it’s clear that you find kissing, sneezing and coughing to be both unusual activities, and unique to drug fuelled orgies.

Unusual life you lead.

Kissing is the “usual activity” and 23% carry this bacteria, with the great majority never suffering meningitis.

Only very few get meningitis, and it seems to be poorly understood but related to certain lifestyles.

<blockquote…very few get meningitis, and it seems to be…related to certain lifestyles.
Do you have proof of this? Or are you once again sourcing your data rectally and/or pollexally? Oh, and nice attempt at disguised victim blaming.

@Igor Chudov Children with meningococcal meningitis engage your special lifestyle (chemsex and all) ?
Here is a review:
https://portlandpress.com/clinsci/article/118/9/547/68658/Cellular-and-molecular-biology-of-Neisseria
Nonetheless, in populations with individuals in close contact, such as university students or military recruits, carriage rates approaching 100% have been found [2,7]. Compared with the carriage rate, meningococcal disease is rare, and disease rates vary in different geographic regions of the world. What changes the colonization state of the organism into a disease state is not entirely clear. It appears that a combination of bacterial virulence factors and host susceptibility, including age, prior viral infection, smoking [2] and genetic polymorphisms (reviewed in [8]), may ultimately lead to meningococcal disease.

“Do you have proof of this? Or are you once again sourcing your data rectally and/or pollexally? Oh, and nice attempt at disguised victim blaming.”

I think he’s trying to say that people with HIV are at higher risk from it and therefore it’s only gay people and drug users who should worry. The usual wanton ignorance. I imagine he’d be the first person to abandon an ‘associate’ who gets meningococcal disease. After all, they must have been doing something Igor finds unsavoury.

@NumberWang:

I imagine he’d be the first person to abandon an ‘associate’ who gets meningococcal disease. After all, they must have been doing something Igor finds unsavoury.

I am not estranged from any family members, and in my very extended family, no one is estranged.

However, family estrangement is an interesting topic and it empirically happened to some of my readers. I find this topic to be fascinating and also very important. So I read a lot of “estranged children” and some “estranged parents” forums. Both are cesspits and echo chambers with conformity enforced by moderators.

Most estranged people posting there are obviously highly dysfunctional.

A couple of estrangement posts I made were met with great interest and a thousand responses each – this is clearly a hot-button topic, especially after Covid.

An example:

I just stumbled upon a Reddit post about a woman who intentionally had a wedding in a vaccinated-only venue (2021).

Her almost entire family (5 out of 6) did not show up, and she is now estranged from everyone, including the one brother who attended but later decided to cut his sister out also.

I am not a perfect person and I find certain “lifestyles” to be very unpleasant to think about. So, I thought, what would happen if, hypothetically, my children would adopt such lifestyles.

I decided that they will be my children no matter what and I would not abandon them, but at the same time I am not required to be happy about things I do not like. I just have to be accepting of my children as human beings.

So far this seems to be a purely theoretical thought, hopefully to remain this way. But life has a way of giving unexpected surprises.

I decided that they will be my children no matter what and I would not abandon them…

Holy shit igor, you had to think about whether you would do the the bare minimum a parent should do for their children? I never thought my opinion of you could get any worse, but then this comes along.

I suppose not if it is connected with certain life-styles, Igor doesn’t approve and isn’t involved in, which means it doesn’t matter to him, because it won’t happen to him and let other be damned. Igor is a selfcentered ignoramus, who knows nothing about infections and diseases and pretends to know more than experts, which makes him feel great, because his Substack followers believe everything he tells them. They don’t know he is wrong in most things he tells them, but the worship him, because he tells them what they want to hear.

“About 23% of young people carry meningococcal bacteria, but most never get meningitis.” …until they get a simple cold and the bacteria invade the brain.

Do you need attention, is that it? Because, this is lame; really lame; even for you.

Pretty much everyone (Myself included) who do emergency medicine or cover an ER have seen one of these cases go south FAST. They vaccine is safe and effective. You are neither.

I see numerous social media complaints from antivaxers bemoaning how they are estranged from their families, either because their constant antivax ranting and conspiracy promotion is no longer tolerated, or because they feel they must live apart from their vaccinated relatives for fear of “shedding”.

Vaccinated people aren’t isolated like that.

Poor helpless antivaxxers. Feeling so special with their secret knowledge, they want to share with their families and now they are no longer tolerated by their families. Or they have to isolate themselves, because those nasty, ignorant, vaccinated family-members, shed their dangerous vaccine-spike-proteins and thus endangering those sensible enought to see the dangers of those nasty vaccines. /s

Some statistics, which I have not verified, suggest that 23% of people are estranged from someone. Estrangement is not limited to antivaxxers, but I am sure that some of them are estranged also.

(I am not estranged from any relatives)

Think about what you said:

I see numerous social media complaints from antivaxers bemoaning how they are estranged from their families, either because their constant antivax ranting and conspiracy promotion is no longer tolerated, or because they feel they must live apart from their vaccinated relatives for fear of “shedding”. Vaccinated people aren’t isolated like that.

Estrangement s a two-way street where if A is estranged from B, then B is estranged from A – so estrangement cannot be limited to antivaxxers only – unless and antivaxxer is estranged from another anti-vaxxer, which I am sure also occasionally happens.

I did write about estrangement once, and I want to do it again — to promote FORGIVENESS and RECONCILIATION.

Unfortunately, the Covid vaccination campaign encouraged suspicion, division and hatred towards unvaccinated people, based on the lie of “stopping transmission”, which did break up some families. Usually there was prior dysfunction involved also.

Anyway, the point I am making on my blog is that it is better to reconcile with less-that-perfect relatives (over Covid vaccines, not other abuse) than to harbor grudges.

Strangely, most people who agree with me about the need for forgiveness and reconciliation, are not estranged, while those who are estranged frequently disagree with the need to forgive and reconcile.

Oh well.

Anyway, if I spend a day writing a post and just one reader reconciles with relatives, it will be a day well spent.

The meningococcal vaccine is against your religion? Which religion? I call bullshit.

Probably his High Church of Lying about Modern Science and Vaccines.

The idea that you can just invent a church that satisfies your religious needs, and happily ignore all the bits in the source material that you dont agree with, seems to agree perfectly with the conspiracy theorist ethos too.

How else did we end up with 40,000 plus variety of churches. People don’t want to follow one that tells them what they do is wrong and search for one that tells them that no matter what they do is OK and don’t forget to fill the collection plate.

I am reminded of an oft repeated line by a certain Australian comedian: “Igor, you are a very unattractive man”. Of course, you are very much worse than just a very unattractive man.

I am reminded of an oft repeated line by a certain Australian comedian: “Igor, you are a very unattractive man”. Of course, you are very much worse than a very unattractive man.

Igor, I don’t know who your “associate” is, but there is a very long history of people lying to their parents and other authority figures about whether they’re having sex, and with whom, and about what drugs they’re using, You probably know your own proclivities [sic], but what sort of answer do you expect to a question like “you aren’t into drugs, are you?”

Denying your “associate” vaccines won’t get them to avoid alcohol or other drugs, and it won’t get them to abstain from sex. What it might do is put their life or health at risk.

The risk factor isn’t enjoying sex, or not being heterosexual–it’s being an undergraduate living in a college dorm. (Other risk factors include sickle cell disease, which I remind you is a genetic disorder.)

Don’t ever think anything like Igor is really concerned about this associate — if the associate actually exists, which is doubtful based on igor’s long history of lying.

He’s just trying out different “explanations” of why this vaccine should be avoided before he spreads his BS to the poor sots who follow him on his blog.

Neisseria meningitidis is a respitory system bacteria (in the nasopharynx) that spreads with cough and saliva. This happens when people live in close contact, like in a dormitory. Spreading by oral sex (the saliva) is reported but you cannot avoid bacteria by avoiding drugs and “chemsex”.

It is not the bacteria. It is almost everywhere. 23% of people test positive for it. The important factor is something else, that makes this bacteria infect the head and cause meningitis

That’s like saying that “it’s not the car” when someone dies in a car crash, because most drivers won’t die that way.

I suppose you think that “it’s not the bullet” when someone is shot dead, because most gunshot wounds aren’t fatal?

Do you actively enjoy social distancing, avoiding restaurants because someone with an viral infection might cough near you, and trying to figure out whether going to the dentist is bad for your health? I don’t–I’m stuck doing it, because I’m one of the unfortunate people who is on a medication that means most vaccines don’t take.

(I’m too old for the meningitis vaccine, but I am damned well getting every vaccine I am eligible for, because maybe the next one will teach my immune system something useful.)

Again:
Nonetheless, in populations with individuals in close contact, such as university students or military recruits, carriage rates approaching 100% have been found [2,7]. Compared with the carriage rate, meningococcal disease is rare, and disease rates vary in different geographic regions of the world. What changes the colonization state of the organism into a disease state is not entirely clear. It appears that a combination of bacterial virulence factors and host susceptibility, including age, prior viral infection, smoking [2] and genetic polymorphisms (reviewed in [8]), may ultimately lead to meningococcal disease.
And it is the bacteria, even if you get meningococcal meningitis after mild flu (prior viral infection in the citation) . Virulence factors count, too.

Several years ago, I took dance classes with a young Latina who was a WIDOW: her husband, 25, worked for a furniture delivery company, caught this and died within a week. She worked at a few gyms/ the Y with kids and adults and was a part time college student and didn’t get sick.

This is right in my “Wheelhouse” so I have a few things:

Who is taking their kid to a CNMW for routine pediatric care??? WHY? They are absolutely NOT trained or qualified. One of the midwives was here yesterday so I asked her about this she was shocked and pretty much agreed this kook was practicing out of her scope. I don’t know NY’s laws, though.
I see more crank, whacko, straight bizarre stuff out of midwives and NPs than I do anyone else combined by orders of magnitude. Especially in the rural areas I practice in. Caveat: there are terrific ones and I work with many of them.

They set up aesthetic practices and give IV infusions of bs that land people in the ER for me to deal with. They ignore an a1c of 15 and tell the patient to do a colon cleanse and eat raw veggies then that patient’s feet go numb, their kidneys fail, and I get to deal with it. It goes on and on and on like this.

They shut one down recently in WA who was, essentially, handing out narcotics with Botox if patients “Wanted them.” They were designed to help with the primary care shortage but all want to go make a ton of money doing as little as possible to do the hard work of primary care in my considerable experience.

Side note-they’ll find this post and come trash me on here, mark my words.

She’s “Got the look.” I saw that pic and thought “Yup. Looks right.” Those of us doing this long enough can pick them out of a lineup.

Many of the alt med/ anti-vaxxers I follow complain that NY** is a medical police state because of mandated vaccines for kids/ workers, the Governor’s actions on Covid and the limits placed on practice- i.e. nutritionists/ yoga teachers/ life coaches can’t treat patients for serious illness although they certainly TRY.
So if someone like her survived in NY, imagine how bad it must be elsewhere.

** medical freedom advocates despise NY, NJ, CT, MA, CA, OR, WA most but love FL and TX most. I wonder why?

Sadly, I wish I had to imagine. Washington and Idaho tolerate a lot of baloney for reasons unknown. Montana is better but Wyoming and Nevada are the total Wild West. I get tons of patients from there on soma, narcs, benzos, and adderall all at the same time. Most are totally unvaccinated since childhood and think “Western medicine sucks.”

If not everyone exposed gets ill, alt med advocates need to find all-purpose reasons since they can’t really blame lifestyle or drug abuse for every single case..
perhaps these unfortunate, misguided souls did not eat a purely organic, vegan diet or they drank alcohol, coffee or soft drinks. Maybe they didn’t meditate sufficiently or get 5-6 hours of cardio a week. Their house may be too close to 5G or power lines. Their water may be fluoridated or they may have thought bad thoughts.
Perhaps it was vaccines….
Oh, wait.

So, Igor is “Looking for some advice on how to avoid the “meningococcal vaccine”” (love the scare quotes).

Hasn’t Igor previously assured us he’s only attacking Covid vaccination and has no interest in other vaccines? Sure looks like he’s taking pride in being an all-purpose antivaxer.

“did I ever tell you what happened to me in Costco once?”

Still hilariously preening in the imagined adulation of Costco women. Try visiting Lane Bryant, they’ll mob you there. 🙂

By the way, the figure for carriage of N. meningitidis is about 10%, not 23%, and risk factors for disease are not confined to people whose “lifestyles” you find suspect, Mr. Terrain.

https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/risk-factors.html

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