I am not making this up

[redbird]

It shouldn't be necessary to state that mailing live viruses in unlabeled packages is illegal as well as unethical and stupid.

Note that these are being sent by, and to, parents who disapprove of vaccination, so we can assume their kids haven't been vaccinated against hepatitis either.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

. . . um.

So, having a controlled dosage of a killed virus carefully put into your child by a medical professional is too dangerous, but feeding random pathogens mailed to you by random strangers to your kids is safe?

. . . yeah. I think science education in this country needs to get better.

[crazysoph.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to have to be a bother about this - it's a technical issue: I have tried to visit that website, and every time I do, it crashes my browser.

I've isolated the problem to any site that has embedded the Arizona news report. My hope is that I could ask you, pretty please, to harvest a couple of links from the one you have above, which I hope lead to reference-weblogs that don't have that particular news report embedded in the page.

Again, sorry to have to ask, but it seems the fastest way. If, that is, you have the time.

Crazy(and sorry for her impertinence)Soph

[thette.livejournal.com]

http://mikethemadbiologist.com/2011/10/31/pox-parties-and-bioterrorism/

http://biologyfiles.fieldofscience.com/2011/11/antivax-women-who-mail-pox-who-are-they.html

http://silencedbyageofautism.blogspot.com/2011/11/pox-by-post.html

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

That worked so well when someone decided to start sending anthrax through the mail...

Ignoring the possibility of people catching the disease as it passes through the mail (and adult chicken pox and mumps are *not nice*!), this is a practice that is so asking to be hacked by malefactors.

Let's replace that saliva sample by, say, some LSD - dosages for that are tiny, in the micro grammes per kg of body weight.

Or maybe something a bit nastier than chickenpox, if you've feeling in an al-Quaida mood. It may head in that direction anyway if these idiots decide that spreading measles this way would be a good idea...

The CSI episode almost writes itself!

Of course you may also think of this as evolution in action...

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

For an intelligent species, humans are extraordinarily stupid sometimes, as well as awfully uncaring about consequences.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I am aghast.