What if Disney banned unvaccinated children from their hotels and parks?

[ronandannette]

I have a friend ( male) who had measles and it made him sterile. He was born around 1963 I’m guessing. I don’t know if it was red measles or German measles.

It might be an old wives' tale but I remember often hearing as a child that sterility would result if an adult man got the mumps. Rubella (German measles) as I understand it is a mild disease except when contracted by pregnant women - then it can apparently result in severe birth defects.

 

[RedAngie]

So...that got me thinking more, what if Disney decided the risk was just too great, especially with the amount of immuno-compromised children that visit Disney every year. Would they trust the honor system? Would parents lie? Would Disney ask for proof?

Anti-vaxxer parents are loud and proud about it. They'd probably be shoving pseudo-science propaganda pamphlets and Mommy Blog posts in the faces of the CMs at the entry turnstiles.

 

[dish rag]

I’m wondering if insurance companies can get out of paying medical claims when the children of these people contract one of these horrible preventable deseases. Or do they pay the claim then later come back to these people to collect their losses. I can only imagine what parents of a generation or two ago, who where so thankful for these vaccines to protect their children would think about these idiotic anti vaccination parents, most of whom I feel are seeking attention at their children’s expense.

 

[EMom]

It might be an old wives' tale but I remember often hearing as a child that sterility would result if an adult man got the mumps. Rubella (German measles) as I understand it is a mild disease except when contracted by pregnant women - then it can apparently result in severe birth defects.

It is not an old wives tale. My classmate got mumps at 18. I can’t tell you why, because that was back when you had to get vaccinated before they’d let you attend school. But he got mumps and became sterile, which caused him terrible pain and a failed marriage, because of the infertility struggle and the toll it takes. IIRC, his wife refused to adopt and kept thinking they would miraculously conceive. He knew better.

 

[mousefan73]

Seeing that WDW cannot even ask what type of disability you have to justify for DCA ( believe that is ehat those cards are called) I highly doubt they will ever be the possibility of them ask your medical status.

 

[mousefan73]

I got whooping cough at 40. ( Per Dr. your childhood shot can wear off). I swear had I been old and frail or an infant I would have died. Worse 3 months of my life. Bruised a few ribs. Try breathing through a cough attack with that!!! I totally understood how those infants in that outbreak a few years ago died.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I got whooping cough at 40. ( Per Dr. your childhood shot can wear off). I swear had I been old and frail or an infant I would have died. Worse 3 months of my life. Bruised a few ribs. Try breathing through a cough attack with that!!! I totally understood how those infants in that outbreak a few years ago died.

I feel ya! In my early 20's, because I lived my whole life with my mom, who was a smoker, I got bronchitis every winter. I got it bad. One year, my cough was so bad, I broke a rib. BROKE A RIB from coughing!! I remember asking them to wrap my ribs, but they didn't do that anymore. So it was pure torture. I still had the coughing, but now I had a broken rib to go with it.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My guess is the county health department (where you were vaccinated) has these records (or had). I have not clue how long they keep these records.

I had this issue before I started nursing school. My doctor ran a titer test and signed uff on my immunities to those diseases.

 

[AlohaNow]

Said in my house every time anti-vax stuff comes on the news: "Perhaps people shouldn't take medical advice from a Playboy model."

 

[jdb in AZ]

I had this issue before I started nursing school. My doctor ran a titer test and signed uff on my immunities to those diseases.

I'm glad there's some kind of test for those who don't have records. I had both kinds of measles when I was a kid back in the dark ages before vaccinations were available. Glad that my kids had vaccinations/immunizations to avoid all those diseases.

 

[Colleen27]

They couldn't/wouldn't. Not only would it be impossible to police, they'd never reject the money from international visitors coming from places with different vaccination standards. But if I were the parent of an unvaccinated child, I'd be VERY cautious about going to WDW at all... Most outbreaks of measles and whooping cough, and now mumps, start with exposure to a foreign case, either during foreign travels or because that foreign visitor was contagious and in public here in the US. And Disney attracts a lot of foreign visitors.

Rockland county has already said there “enforcement” is going to more like retroactive punishment than checking everyone in public. In other words if you take your unvaccinated kid in public and they get measle (which is reported to the health department by law) you will be prosecuted. They hope the fear of that will keep unvaccinated kids at home. You’d think that fear of the measles itself would do that but apparently not.

That feels like a really bad idea to me. The fear of consequences might prompt some parents to keep their kids home from public places during the outbreak, but it might also cause some parents to try to deal with a suspected measles case at home, without medical attention, rather than face the legal consequences of violating the policy.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Could they 100% ban smoking too? That would be great.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Anti-vaxxer parents are loud and proud about it. They'd probably be shoving pseudo-science propaganda pamphlets and Mommy Blog posts in the faces of the CMs at the entry turnstiles.

I just saw a news piece about the Rockland County Emergency Order on CBS This Morning and it reminded me of something that happened when my oldest son (14) was a baby. I was walking my son with a friend and her friend from another town and their babies. I had never met this woman but somehow we got on the subject of vaccinations. She said she was NOT vaccinating her child. At that point, I was just realizing that this was a thing (new mom), so we got into it a bit, and let me tell you, she fully understood how vaccinations work. She told me that she would not be putting poisons into her child like I was, but would be relying on people like me to protect her child. At this point, according to that news piece, I think that the herd is thinning. Anyway, it was a weird mom-shaming (not my favorite word but best describes it) moment that I will always cherish.

One of the tough things about measles is the incubation period, which contributes to it being so contagious. Given how many cases there have been this year, I'm almost surprised there hasn't been cases traced to WDW just given how many visitors there are.

 

[tcufrog]

According to the CDC:

“Measles can be a serious in all age groups. However, children younger than 5 years of age and adults older than 20 years of age are more likely to suffer from measles complications... Some people may suffer from severe complications, such as pneumonia (infection of the lungs) and encephalitis (swelling of the brain). They may need to be hospitalized and could die...Measles may cause pregnant woman to give birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.”

 

[DISNEY1975]

Kids are banned from public school where I live. At the beginning of the school year we must show an annual physical with vaccinations before a child can step foot into class. I once got a call from the school nurse, mid school year, because one of my kids was missing their second shot of something. If he didnt get it within 2 weeks he would not be allowed at school. I called the Dr and explained I needed an appt within 2 weeks for the shot. When we got to the Dr office and I told the story again, he said "They should be teaching kids, not trying to play Dr". Apparently there was no need for this second shot until his next physical 7 months later.

A couple of years ago, I got a letter from the school stating my child was "obese". My daughter said everyone had to go to the nurses office and get weighed (public school!). My daughter was about 5'7: at the time and weighed 120. Hardly "obese". My daughter was very upset she was labeled that. Luckily I convinced her she wasnt. This could have led to an eating disorder.

My daughter 2 years ago.... The letter came about a month before our Disney trip. Could she lose 5 lbs? Sure, but obese ???

 

[Hikergirl]

There is a Mumps outbreak at Temple University. They are offering students and staff free vaccinations.
My college kids were required to have their MMR up to date to attend their schools.

 

[fab1976]

How many of you have kept up with your immunization booster shots over the years? They aren’t good for life, I forget the schedule but some need to be redone every 10-15 years.

 

[Hikergirl]

How many of you have kept up with your immunization booster shots over the years? They aren’t good for life, I forget the schedule but some need to be redone every 10-15 years.

Which vaccines?

 

[piccolopat]

I think people need to be better educated on how vaccines work. I was just having a conversation with a girl at work and she doesn’t vaccinate. She asked me what I would do if friends stopped being friends with me because I didn’t vaccinate. I said I wouldn’t know but how would you deal with your kid getting something preventable like meningitis and your kid dying. She said she would take her kid to the doctor and they would cure him before any damage could be done. I said it doesn’t work that way.

I would also ask her what she would do if her unvaccinated kid caught something like measles and then exposed a newborn or pregnant woman to the disease and got the baby sick or worse. Not everything is curable after the fact and it's not just about your own unvaccinated kid.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

How many of you have kept up with your immunization booster shots over the years? They aren’t good for life, I forget the schedule but some need to be redone every 10-15 years.

I had one when I was a sophomore in college due to an outbreak of measles in my hometown (would have been early 1990s). I also had to get one when I went back to get my Masters degree. Proof of vaccination was required for everyone attending classes on campus and since I was almost 40, I didn't have any records whatsoever. I'm well vaccinated at this point.