Texans Should Probably Not Look To The Brady Bunch For Measles Advice

Texas is experiencing another "go-around" of anti-vax propaganda.

Texans Own Their Choice

I would love to say that "I don't care" whether you and yours are vaccinated or not. The problem is, that when we give up herd immunity, the more vulnerable among us are threatened. If we could find a way to protect special needs people, pregnant women, and others with weakened immune systems, I'd be fine with you taking your chances. I'm more than happy to let you learn a lesson the hard way.

Texas Outbreak

Right now we have a measles outbreak in West Texas. We have about 300 reported cases and one death. It's just a little shocking because this was something that was not really on our radar. I came from a generation that did things for the public good, and as a result, measles was mostly wiped out.

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Anti-Vax

Anti-vaxxers take a different view of the situation fueled by citing bias confirming YouTube videos and disproved research that claims vaccines as harmful. Again, dig your own grave, I'm good with trusting science. This brings us to one of the more ludicrous tools used to defend not being vaccinated.

Here's A Story...

In 1969 The Brady Bunch aired an episode where Peter, then the whole family came down with measles. It treated the situation as kind of a "family vacation moment at home" where the seriousness of the disease was played down. This episode gets passed around any time there is a measles outbreak as "proof" it's no big deal.

The Real Story

Let's keep in mind that The Bradys were a fictional family, without infants, toddlers or pregnant women. The risks would be low for a family of this type. Now, behind the scenes in 1969, there were 12,500 cases of measles and 41 deaths. They kind of didn't show that on TV. Just for the record that 3.28 deaths per 1000 cases in 1969, we're currently at 1 in 300.  It's not bad odds, but most parents don't want to take a chance on their child's life. It's up to you whether you like those odds or not, but using The Brady Bunch as propaganda is really silly.