Thread by @MDaware

it's not just heartbreakingly backwards

it's a burden on others--and not just the potential for epidemic

when I see a patient with potential measles, it means we have to get them a special isolation room so they don't potentially infect others 1/x

https://twitter.com/WFKARS/status/1131897462845825024

I have to spend an absurd amount of time tracking down the proper protocols, making phone calls to our hospital's infection control group, the country dept of public health (not to mention figuring out with county DPH it is; based on where my ER is v where the patient lives?) 2/x

figure out which tests I'm supposed to order. and because we don't do these very much (yet) making sure I'm sending the right samples in the right test tubes to the right lab 3/x

meanwhile we have to get information like when they were in the waiting room so if it does end up being measles, the health department can track down everyone they may have exposed, like the other patients & family who were in the waiting room 4/x

if the concern for measles is high enough, they have to stay in the hospital under isolation until their testing comes back. this is a burden to the hospital, the staff (iso precautions are important but frustrating), to the other patients who might need isolation... 5/x

if the concern is low enough they can go home if they promise to stay at home and not go out in public for DAYS while they wait for testing

either way, this takes away the potential measles patient's freedom for DAYS while we work it out

6/x

plus while I'm working all this out, making countless phone calls trying to make sure we're doing everything correctly so I don't a) contribute to a terrible epidemic and (less importantly) b) don't get a bunch of annoying emails telling me I did it wrong... 7/x

...during all of this

I AM NOT TAKING CARE OF OTHER PATIENTS

8/x

vaccines are safe. vaccines are effective. vaccines do not cause nor contribute to autism.

measles is bad. measles is not just a simple febrile illness. it made a lot of kids and immunocompromised people die. and not everyone can get vaccinated

9/x

your right to swing your fist stops where my right to not be punched in the face begins

just the harm to all the patients I couldnt help when I was making a bunch of phone calls to make sure I didnt cause a measles outbreak is plausibly worse than the harm from MMR vaccines 10/x

we live in a society. our actions impact each other. there's really just no question about the potential risk of measles vs potential risk of the MMR and other vaccines.

unless you're going to quit society and live on an island in the middle of the ocean, please vaccinate

a nice person comes in not because they were worried about themselves--they didnt want to get anyone else sick...

and that meant hours of waiting around in isolation in the ED being taken care of by masked providers, getting stuck with needles, and best case scenario "go home and stay there for days by yourself and hopefully a state hazmat team won't come for you"