Amid rising fears over a surge in measles circumstances in Texas, a video circulating on-line has sparked outrage after it confirmed a physician with a measles rash treating kids.
Public well being consultants have raised alarms in regards to the potential unfold, condemning the physician who continued to follow whereas being contaminated with the extremely contagious virus. The identical physician was praised per week later by Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who referred to as him an “extraordinary healer”.
The physician on the heart of the controversy is Dr. Ben Edwards, who seems in a video posted by Kids’s Well being Protection, an anti-vaccine group on March 31. The footage reveals Dr. Edwards working in a makeshift clinic in Seminole, Texas, floor zero of the outbreak that has sickened lots of of individuals and killed three, together with two kids.
When Dr. Edwards was requested whether or not he had measles he responded “Sure” including that his an infection had began the day earlier than the video was recorded and it was a “delicate case”. “Yesterday was fairly achy. Little delicate fever. Spots got here within the afternoon. In the present day, I awoke feeling good,” he mentioned within the video.
Measles spreads by means of the air when an contaminated particular person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. People can unfold the illness from about 4 days earlier than the rash seems and 4 days after.
Nonetheless, Dr. Edwards clarified that he has not put any affected person’s life at risk as he has not interacted with anybody who was not already contaminated with measles. “Subsequently, clearly, there have been no sufferers that had been put at risk of buying measles since they already had measles,” he advised the Related Press in an electronic mail, as reported by CNN.
A few week after the video was posted, Kennedy Jr. who had led the anti-vaccine group Kids’s Well being Protection till December met with Dr. Edwards, together with one other doctor. Kennedy took to X on April 6 to reward the duo as “extraordinary healers,” commending their use of two unproven measles therapies. Nonetheless, it stays unclear whether or not Kennedy was conscious that Dr. Edwards had handled kids in his clinic whereas contaminated with measles earlier than their assembly.
Whereas many well being consultants are condemning Dr. Edwards for persevering with to deal with kids with out sporting an N95 masks, probably exposing uninfected sufferers, dad and mom, and others visiting the clinic, some are additionally elevating issues in regards to the broader implications of the video. Critics say the footage promotes anti-vaccine sentiment, particularly as Dr. Edwards is seen confirming that he had been vaccinated in opposition to measles.
When requested if he had measles as a toddler, he mentioned, “No, I had the MMR vaccine.” Pressed on what number of doses he’d obtained, he confirmed, “Fairly just a few,” and claimed the safety “simply wears off” over time. Well being consultants warn this messaging is deceptive and will discourage vaccination.
Consultants like Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist and scientific immunologist, clarify that the two-dose MMR vaccine routine, providing about 97% safety in opposition to measles, was not added to routine tips till 1989. Earlier than that, most individuals obtained solely a single dose, which gives about 93% safety and that hole might clarify some breakthrough circumstances. “I do not truly know his medical historical past, however we all know that the MMR vaccine did not get a routine second-dose advice till 1989,” Dr. Rubin mentioned in a video.
