IOWA citizens Quarantined For Refusing Vaccine

[health advocate]

This is a complete abuse of police powers by the health department in
Iowa. They forcibly quarantined people who refused vaccination who were
allegedly exposed to measles. Yes, you read that correctly - they did not
have the measles - they were exposed to measles. Quarantining healthy
people for an exposure to the measles when 99.9% of the people who catch the
measles fully recover (according to sworn testimony at the Texas Legislature
by past Associate Commissioner of Disease Control Dr. Diane Simpson who now
works at the CDC) if they refuse vaccination is nothing more than harassment
and an absolute abuse of powers. Laws granting health departments unchecked
authority to forcibly vaccinate or quarantine someone who is not sick need
to be changed. They even admit in this article that this was practice for
them in case something more catastrophic happened later. If it happened in
Iowa, it can happen anywhere anytime.
>
> If you would like to work on grassroots efforts to stop this in your
state, familiarize yourself with your current state statute and contact your
legislators immediately asking for medical, religious and conscientious
exemptions be inserted into these statutes with reasonable humane
quarantines for those who are actually sick if the disease is unreasonably
deadly or dangerous. In Texas, these abusive laws are contained in the
Health and Safety Code, Chapter 81 called the Communicable Disease
Prevention and Control Act. You can link to them by going to
capitol.state.tx.us, clicking on Texas Statutes, Clicking on Health
and Safety Code, then clicking on CHAPTER 81. COMMUNICABLE DISEASES,
sections 82 and 83.
>
> "If the department or a health authority has reasonable
> cause to believe that an individual is ill with, has been exposed
> to, or is the carrier of a communicable disease, the department or
> health authority may order the individual, or the individual's
> parent, legal guardian, or managing conservator if the individual
> is a minor, to implement control measures that are reasonable and
> necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, and spread of
> the disease in this state."
>
> " In this section, "control measures" includes:
> (1) immunization;
> (2) detention;
> (3) restriction;
> (4) disinfection;
> (5) decontamination;
> (6) isolation;
> (7) quarantine;
> (8) disinfestation;
> (9) chemoprophylaxis;
> (10) preventive therapy;
> (11) prevention; and
> (12) education."
>
> In Texas and most states, as the article below points out, the health
department has the authority to force the above "control measures" under
suspicion of exposure. These laws are separate and apart from exemptions
for school they apply to all people - adults and children - and grant the
health department way too much power. There are no exemptions for medical
reasons, religion or conscience from immunization for adults or children if
the health department orders vaccination under this law, and this needs to
be changed ASAP. It is reasonable to have someone who is ill with a
contagious illness with a high rate of death and disability to remain
quarantined until they are well, but to disrupt the lives and punish HEALTHY
SYMPTOM FREE people refusing immunization for an exposure to the measles is
intolerable and people need to fight this.
>
> I do know that Connecticut, thanks to the great work of Lisa Reiss and
CTVIA, has exemptions in their state emergency powers laws, but as far as I
know, that is the ONLY state. Please get familiar with your state law and
start contacting legislators to stop this unchecked potential for abuse. We
need these changes in every state. - DR]
>
>
reutershealth.com/archive/2004/10/22/eline/links/20041022elin025.html
>
> Quarantine used in Iowa to contain measles
>
> Last Updated: 2004-10-22 15:15:28 -0400 (Reuters Health)
>
> NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A measles outbreak earlier this year was
contained by instituting quarantine measures after exposed persons refused
post-exposure preventative treatment, according to a report from the Iowa
Department of Pubic Health and other state offices.
>
> As described in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, local and
state health departments contacted people exposed to a student returning to
Iowa from India who had come down with measles.
>
> Two of these contacts caught measles, and people exposed to them were also
identified.
>
> Altogether, approximately 200 persons were given post-exposure prophylaxis
(PEP), consisting of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination within three
days of exposure or immune globulin within six days.
>
> Two of the three infected people belonged to "an insular community with
low vaccination rates," the authors explain. All susceptible members of the
community were offered PEP, but seven individuals refused.
>
> The seven were served with state-issued involuntary home quarantine orders
for two weeks. Compliance was monitored with unannounced home visits or
telephone calls.
>
> "A lot of things went into our decision to use quarantine," Dr. Patricia
Quinlisk, with the Iowa Department of Public Health in Des Moines, told
Reuters Health.
>
> "For example, the highly infectious nature of measles; the fact that in
some of the communities a large percentage of the people were totally
susceptible to measles; the fact that measles can be a serious disease,
especially in adults; and that the community had large daily gatherings
which would have allowed measles to be transmitted."
>
> This episode "was sort of a dry run should something happen that is more
catastrophic," Quinlisk commented. "I think it has made us more aware of how
the system did work quite well in lot of ways."
>
> An editorial note with the report points out that all states have the
authority to detain persons under quarantine laws.
>
> The authors recommend that states that have not recently reviewed their
quarantine laws do so, specifically reviewing issues of quarantine
authority, such as what diseases would be covered and how quarantine is to
be enforced, as well as jurisdictional considerations and due process
concerns.
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dawn Richardson
> PROVE(Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education)
> prove@vaccineinfo.net (email)
> vaccineinfo.net (web site)