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Lock up your guns and vaccinate your kids!

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Youth suicides rates are higher in states with high gun ownership rates, a team at Boston University School of Public Health found.

“Household gun ownership was the single biggest predictor of youth suicide rate in a state,” Dr. Michael Siegel, a public health specialist at BU, told NBC News.

Siegel has been studying the relationships between gun ownership and homicide, suicide and other factors. It’s well known that people with access to a gun are far more likely to complete suicide. And some data had suggested that gun ownership in general was associated with higher suicide rates. […]

“For each 10 percentage-point increase in household gun ownership, the youth suicide rate increased by 26.9 percent,” they wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“The only other factors that were associated with overall youth suicide rates were the suicide attempt rate and the percentage of youth who were Native American,” they added.

“Together, the model explained 92 percent of the variation in overall youth suicide rates across the 47 states.”

Remember that old saying about how freedom comes with responsibilities? Lock up your guns, people. The full report is here.

* Meanwhile…

A report released by [Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Julie Morita] and her department and Lurie Children’s Hospital showed Chicago parents have doubts about the flu vaccine.

“In fact, 14 percent overall refused vaccines, and 83 percent of parents refused flu vaccine, in particular,” Dr Matthew Davis of Lurie Children’s Hospital said. “It was the most commonly refused vaccine overall.”

“It’s a really serious infection,” Morita said. “For most people they will recover, but for some people, young children, people with chronic underlying health disease, such as diabetes, asthma, heart disease, those kinds of individuals can get very, very sick and end up in the hospital.”

More than 1000 parents representing all 77 neighborhoods in the city were surveyed. Two-thirds cited worry about short and long-term adverse side effects. About one-third believed the flu vaccine simply isn’t necessary. […]

The CDC recommends that all children 6 months and older receive the flu vaccine. And if you don’t have insurance, you can call 311 and the city will direct you to a healthcare provider where you can obtain a free flu shot.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 9:29 am

Comments

Anti-Vaxxers infuriate me, not only are they putting their own lives at risk based on junk science but they risking the lives of young children, the elderly, and people who can’t take a vaccine for medical reasons.

It’s terrifying to me that so many parents in that survey don’t want a flue vaccine. It means those anti-vaxx groups that come out of the wood work every time a vaccine bill is proposed could get stronger, which means legislators might take them more seriously.

Comment by Horseshoe Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 9:40 am
–14 percent overall refused vaccines–

I want to scream.

Comment by lakeside Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 9:54 am
I’m not an anti-vaxxer and have actually argued with several such people about the importance of vaccines and lack of credible evidence that they lead to autism or whatever.

However, I don’t take the flu shot. The flu shot does not guarantee you won’t get the flu and the flu is generally not a deadly disease if you are healthy otherwise.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 9:56 am
Perhaps Illinois should do the one, and I really mean one, thing Mississippi has done right and require vaccinations for all residents without exception.

Comment by EBA Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 9:59 am
@EBA -

No exceptions? What about people who cannot have vaccines for medical reasons?

Comment by JoanP Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:01 am
Gun-owner to gun-owner: get a safe. Its a good investment. They have strong resale value, they protect a high-value asset, protects them from fire or other events…

And most importantly it SAVES LIVES. Just DO it. Invest in a good, high quality safe.

Anti-vaxxers are nuts. Vaccines have saved more lives than can be counted, and prevented grievous injury for many more.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:03 am
===the flu is generally not a deadly disease if you are healthy otherwise===

And what about the people you come into contact with, some of whom may have cancer or are otherwise ill enough that exposure to the flu virus could kill them?

You are part of the problem whether you realize it or not.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:11 am
I wonder if the survey produced any correlation between anti-vaxxers and owning a Make America Great Again hat?

Comment by don the legend Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:11 am
from a gun owning friend, “lock up the guns. you are not worthy of the gun unless you know how to handle it.” from a doc friend, “get vaccines. science!”

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:12 am
My annual near death experience with the flu ended abruptly after being regularly vaccinated at the beginning of each flu season.

I always figured one of those 104 plus degree episodes was going to kill me.

I am now happy to report good news that I’ll probably die of something else.

Comment by Glenn Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:14 am
==
===the flu is generally not a deadly disease if you are healthy otherwise===

And what about the people you come into contact with, some of whom may have cancer or are otherwise ill enough that exposure to the flu virus could kill them?

You are part of the problem whether you realize it or not.
==

Thank you, Rich.
Say it again. Louder, for the people in the back.

Comment by Shamrockery Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:15 am
The flu is a life treating illness.it wants to kill you.its not a bad cold.odds are low but not 0. 26 yo Fox news ba.just died from it.1918 flu primarily killed 20-40 yo

Comment by Anotherretiree Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:21 am
@JoanP.
There is a very narrow medical exception that a Mississippi licensed doctor must certify that the vaccine is dangerous to the patient. There are no religious, philosophical, or conscientious objections allowed.

Comment by EBA Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:23 am
I could care less about the ownership and non-ownership of guns so I looked at this from a separate point of view.

I have a problem with the study. Looking at Table 1, it is clear the states with the highest rates are northwest and or high native American populations. They then conclude that states with high gun rates and high native American populations are highly correlated factors and they did this through linear regression.

I’m sorry but that screams flawed analysis even though the conclusion is technically correct. I think is a more important driver that highly correlates with these states and could conclude something like cold, states in mountainous northwest states have factors leading to higher suicide rates. But, I don’t know if that would be too worthy of publication (or fit my agenda, if that was needed).

Comment by I Miss Bentohs Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:24 am
===anti-vaxxers and owning a Make America Great Again hat===

In my experience, many of the anti-vaxxers are left wing nuts, from my side of the political spectrum. Nut jobs come in all shapes and sizes, but anti-vaccination seems to have emerged from the granola eating, Birkenstock wearing, free range parenting, hippie 2.0 types.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:26 am
–I wonder if the survey produced any correlation between anti-vaxxers and owning a Make America Great Again hat?–

It’s not like that. Some of the lowest percentages of vaccination are among children of affluent, coastal types who “believe” — faith, not science — that they are practicing healthier, alternative lifestyles.

It other words, thick-headed rich people stoned on social media lunacy. If you’ll recall, RFK Jr. is a prominent anti-vaxxer.

The phenomenon is bizarre and frightening. The “Lancet” article that started it was thoroughly debunked in 2010 and the author was exposed as a fraud and his medical license was pulled.

http://drninashapiro.com/portfolio/why-are-rich-to-not-vaccinate-their-children-in-the-us

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:30 am
As Rich and others have pointed out - the benefit of vaccines aren’t about *you*. In the case of the flu vaccine, it’s to ensure that other, more vulnerable people don’t get what, to them, could be a life-ending disease. And the other battery of vaccines are about developing herd immunity as a group of humans to make sure we don’t see the re-rise of horrible diseases we have basically eradicated - through the use of vaccines.

What MAGAs and 47ths apt description of the hippie leftos have in common is that they think it is about *them* and what *they want*. We are in this together, and, collectively, should be concerned about our nation’s children avoiding getting “the infantile.”

Comment by lakeside Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:32 am
===the flu is generally not a deadly disease if you are healthy otherwise===

Also - look into the morbidity of the 1918 flu pandemic - more “healthy”, young people died in that pandemic that you’d generally expect. Many were left orphaned because both of their parents died. Whether flu will kill you all depends on that season’s mutations. The vaccine may not be a complete defense, but it could help vs. nothing at all.

Comment by bindyesq Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:34 am
47th Ward: Looks like we both love a good stereotype.

Comment by don the legend Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:39 am
Anti Vaxxers come from all political ideologies. In recent years I’ve seen Jenny McCarthy on TV preaching against vaccines.
Suicide is a mental health issue and our country just does an inadequate job in dealing with the mentally ill. Folks that were institutionalized years ago are out on the street today and many don’t get the treatment that they need. I do agree with the previous poster that gun owners need to keep their guns in a safe place.

Comment by The Dude Abides Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:43 am
===Looks like we both love a good stereotype.===

How about facts then?

“At least three Republican candidates for governor—in Oklahoma, Oregon, and Connecticut—are now open skeptics of requiring vaccinations for school kids.”

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:46 am
We don’t talk enough about what a miracle vaccines have been for public health. The HPV vaccine for example will have significantly reduce instances of cervical cancer for women. Why are people standing in the way of progress?

Comment by Anon E Moose Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:51 am
===How about facts then?===

https://oralcancernews.org/wp/history-of-the-anti-vaccine-movement-when-did-the-anti-vaccine-movement-really-start/

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:51 am
If you don’t care enough about yourself to get a flu shot, get it for everyone else. You could be saving a life. You don’t get the chance to do that very often.

Comment by SSL Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:57 am
47th ward. Yes, I’m well aware the anti-vax movement started out of religious groups. The idea being it was against gods will to prevent disease. If god wanted you to get sick and die, then that’s what you had to accept without interference.

However, this is 2019. The resurgence of these beliefs into political areas is far more problematic than a church group. Church groups don’t pass legislation.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 10:59 am
“The flu is an old man’s friend–a quick and fairly painless death” Can’t remember the source but my physician agreed before my annual flu shot.

Comment by very old soil Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:00 am
Ruth - I guess you don’t remember republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmanns’ claims that vaccines cause “mental retardation”. But I get that you just want to say something stupid just to stick it to all those liberals. /s

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/michele-bachmann-continues-perry-attack-claims-hpv-vaccine-might-cause-mental-retardation/2011/09/13/gIQAbJBcPK_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2ab440793a59

Comment by ike Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:01 am
Responsible gun owners already have one or more gun safes. A good safe costs a few hundred at minimum up to a thousand or more, but that is just the cost of 1 (or maybe 2) firearm. Absolutely mandatory if you collect old firearms (like I do) that do not have safety features and/or have kids or grandkids in the home … plus it keeps them from being stolen if your home is robbed. Even when I used to live in a rural setting and had one pistol out while I was home, I kept the rest locked up.

Comment by RNUG Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:02 am
==At least three Republican candidates for governor==

…not to mention a current US representative (and doctor) from Tennessee who believes that vaccines cause autism. What to guess what party he represents?

Comment by Jocko Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:06 am
Opioid abuse far worse of a crisis for youths than a gun in the house. But if it gets more anti 2A folks in a lather may as well fear monger. As for the anti vaccinators, your antics are allowing once almost eradicated diseases gain a foot holds again. Thanks for that. When your kids end up with the chicken pox / shingles (or worse) you might regret it, I know they will.

Comment by theCardinal Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:16 am
===The resurgence of these beliefs into political areas is far more problematic than a church group===

You didn’t read the article at the link, did you?

A variety of folks have been against vaccines ever since the first vaccine was invented. The modern anti-vaccination movement, according to the doctor who wrote the article I linked to, suggested that people like Lea Thompson and Lisa Bonet, with help from the Today Show and social media, have contributed much of the misinformation and scare tactics surrounding vaccinations.

And as far as I’m concerned, valid religious objections should be the only opt-out method. It would help if there was a more vigorous way to demonstrate a religious objection other than simply, but sometimes the Constitution is a pretty blunt instrument.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:21 am
Never got flu shots because of my unnatural fear of needles. I would rather have spiders in my eyes than volunteer to get stuck. However I had to start when my daughter had cancer and we haven’t missed a year since. It’s not 100% protection, but a few years ago when the bf had a flu that kept him down for 8 weeks after giving it to us, we were sick only 3 days. Definitely worth the shot.

And after 8 weeks of the flu he gets the shot now too. And still apologizes for making us sick.

Comment by HangingOn Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:29 am
===vigorous===

Rigorous.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 11:32 am
“And as far as I’m concerned, valid religious objections should be the only opt-out method. ”

Why?

Comment by a drop in Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:10 pm
My response was meant towards 47th not “Ruth” (stupid phone)

Comment by ike Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:14 pm
“The flu shot does not guarantee you won’t get the flu and the flu is generally not a deadly disease if you are healthy otherwise.”

Seat-belts do not guarantee you won’t be killed in an auto accident and auto accidents are generally not deadly.

Nevertheless…

Comment by @misterjayem Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:16 pm
===Why?===

Because if you are a Christian Scientist you deserve the freedom to refuse medical care in any form. Yes, that puts others at risk, but thankfully there aren’t too many faiths that have deep convictions about this sort of thing.

Again, I’d like to see a rigorous test be applied to anyone seeking a waiver, but if your beliefs call on you to refuse, I don’t see a legal justification for forced vaccination in these cases.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:18 pm
Very old soil… that quote is about pneumonia, not flu. Pneumonia often allowed a quick and peaceful death, as opposed to a painful lingering caused by some deaths of the past.

Comment by Jibba Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:19 pm
==Opioid abuse far worse of a crisis for youths than a gun in the house.==

Luckily, our society can choose to care about more than one thing at a time. In this very thread people are talking about both guns and vaccines.

Comment by supplied_demand Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:24 pm
Jibba
I stand corrected. Thanks

Comment by very old soil Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 12:26 pm
====The flu shot does not guarantee you won’t get the flu and the flu is generally not a deadly disease if you are healthy otherwise.

This is true of many vaccines. My kids got the chickenpox even though they were vaccinated, but it was an incredibly mild case.

In terms of political ideology it isn’t clear which has more adherents to anti-vaxx beliefs–I’ve always thought it was a lefty belief mostly, but there are significant numbers of right wing antivaxxers as well. In both cases it centers on some belief in nature/God being the best state and vaccines are unnatural.

Both are stupid and both originate in the conspiracy theories that marinate on the fringes. Which side has a greater number doesn’t matter much to me anymore as much marginalizing anyone who denies the science.

Comment by ArchPundit Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 3:01 pm
=And as far as I’m concerned, valid religious objections should be the only opt-out method. =-

Not medical issues? Personally, I think those should be the only opt-out. I don’t want the state to have to try to figure out which religious objections are valid and which aren’t.

Comment by JoanP Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 3:44 pm
===Not medical issues?===

I should have been clearer. Medical issues obviously preclude some people from getting vaccines. In my head, I think of waivers as something other than a medical decision, so I didn’t include that. With a valid medical exemption like an allergy, I don’t view that as optional, so you can’t “opt out” if opting in was never a realistic choice.

All 50 states allow for a medical exemption, 47 states have a religious exemption and 17 states allow for a “philosophical” exemption.

I would disallow the philosophical exemption and put a more stringent test to the religious exemption too.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 18, 19 @ 4:13 pm