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HEALTH. ED TO YOU. LET’S PICK IT UP RIGHT THERE. MARIA. HERE TO DISCUSS SOME MORE. IS DOCTOR TODD AND FAMILIAR FACE HERE AT 430 ON NEWSCENTER 5. CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT SOUTH SHORE HEALTH. HAPPY FRIDAY. IT’S GREAT TO SEE YOU. AS YOU KNOW, VACCINES HAVE BEEN A FREQUENT TARGET IN THE DEBATE ABOUT AUTISM. SO SO JUST TO JUST TO WE’LL BUILD A BASE. FIRST. TELL US AGAIN WHAT DOES WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SHOW THE MMR VACCINE DOES NOT CAUSE AUTISM. UNFORTUNATELY, BACK IN 1998, THERE WAS A STUDY THAT WAS UNFORTUNATELY A FRAUDULENT STUDY THAT SHOWED THAT THERE WAS A LINK BETWEEN MMR AND AUTISM. THAT STUDY HAS BEEN RETRACTED AND BUT STILL, THERE’S A LOT OF SKEPTICISM. VACCINE SKEPTICISM WITH THE MMR AND WITH OTHER VACCINES BECAUSE OF THIS. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE, THE PROBLEM IS WE DO NEED TO FIND OUT THE CAUSE OF AUTISM. IT’S PROBABLY NOT ONE CAUSE. THERE’S PROBABLY GENETIC COMPONENTS. THERE MAY BE ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENTS. I’M GLAD TO SEE THAT WE’RE GOING TO HAVE MORE RESEARCH, BUT WE HAVE TO GET BEYOND THE MMR VACCINE, WHICH HAS BEEN PROVEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD TO NOT BE LINKED TO AUTISM. AND, YOU KNOW, BUT MEASLES, MUMPS AND RUBELLA, IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT MMR STANDS FOR. SO WE’VE TALKED ABOUT THE MEASLES OUTBREAK AND WE JUST HAVE SOME NEW NUMBERS. LET’S PUT THEM UP ON THE SCREEN. BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE’RE A COUNTRY OF OF A LOT OF PEOPLE. BUT THERE ARE 712 CASES, WHICH ISN’T A LARGE NUMBER RIGHT, FOR THIS COUNTRY. BUT THERE ARE NOW 712 CONFIRMED IN 25 STATES. SO THAT’S HALF THE STATES IN THE UNION AND TWO DEATHS IN TEXAS. THEY’RE BOTH IN TEXAS. SO WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THOSE PATIENTS? WELL, UNFORTUNATELY, THE THREE DEATHS WERE IN PATIENTS THAT WERE UNVACCINATED. AND, YOU KNOW, THE VACCINE, REMEMBER, A SINGLE DOSE, 93% EFFECTIVE, TWO DOSES, 97%. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE 700 PLUS CASES, ALMOST ALL OF THEM ARE IN UNVACCINATED CASES. THERE HAVE BEEN A HANDFUL OF PATIENTS THAT HAVE GOTTEN 1 OR 2 DOSES OF VACCINE. BUT REMEMBER, AGAIN, THIS IS WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A TINY PERCENTAGE OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN FULLY VACCINATED WHO HAVE GOTTEN THIS. SO SO THE VACCINE WORKS JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, AS A FULLY VACCINATED PERSON EVER DIED FROM THE MEASLES, RIGHT. IT’S FASCINATING. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A DEATH, AT LEAST THAT I CAN TELL. AND I’VE SORT OF SCOURGED THE MEDICAL LITERATURE THAT HAVE GOTTEN TWO DOSES OF OF THE MMR. NOW, THERE HAS BEEN AN IMMUNOCOMPROMISED PATIENT THAT GOT ONE DOSE OF THE VACCINE AND DIED. BUT REMEMBER, WE’VE ONLY SEEN A HANDFUL OF DEATHS IN THE PAST 20 YEARS. RIGHT, RIGHT. SO IT’S RARE, BUT THE VACCINE WORKS. BUT BEFORE I LET YOU GO, ONE LAST QUESTION ABOUT VACCINE. AND THIS IS COVID. SO, YOU KNOW, WE’VE TALKED ABOUT THAT AT NAUSEUM FOR THE LAST, WHAT, FIVE YEARS. PROTECTION WANES OVER TIME. OBVIOUSLY, LAST YEAR, THE CDC RECOMMENDED A SPRING BOOSTER FOR OLDER ADULTS. WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR? THE RECOMMENDATION HAS STAYED. SO BASICALLY, IF YOU’RE ELDERLY, IF YOU’RE MODERATE TO SEVERE IMMUNOSUPPRESSION, YOU WANT TO GET A DOSE ESSENTIALLY IN THE SPRING AND A DOSE IN THE FALL. NOW AGAIN, WHY DO WE DO THAT? BECAUSE LIKE YOU SAID, IMMUNITY WANES. AND WE KNOW THAT THESE GROUPS HAVE A HIGHER RISK OF HOSPITALIZATION. AGAIN, I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE CONTINUE TO STUDY THIS. I THINK MORE STUDY NEEDS TO BE DONE. BUT AT THIS POINT, THE CDC RECOMMENDS TWO DOSES FOR THOSE GROUPS. DEFINITION OF ELDERLY IS THEY’RE SAYING 65 AND OLDER.