
California’s deadly hepatitis A outbreak could last years, official says - Mz
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-hepatitis-outbreaks-20171006-htmlstory.html
======
bertolo1988
The current version of hepatitis A grants immunity for life after the second
dose. Those 2 doses are exactly the same and it was thought that they should
be taken 6 months to 2 years after each other. A recent study says that the
second dose could still grant immunity for life even if it is taken 5 years
after the first dose. It is a super effective vaccine!

They also last for a very long time in a normal fridge.

Why isn't it included in normal vaccination plans? It looks like there is
something controlling the supply and we are paying with human lives all over
the world.

~~~
tryingagainbro
>> _the second dose could still grant immunity for life even if it is taken 5
years after the first dose. It is a super effective vaccine!_

Why shouldn't USA--as in the FedGov--make such vaccines 100% free for
everyone, a child or a 55 year old? An ounce of prevention and all....maybe
subsidize them, pay cost only.

Personally I went to a private clinic and paid for them, but it was hundreds
and hundreds. Not everyone can afford them and when you 80 million (or
whatever) vaccines, the price can come down.

~~~
maxerickson
A significant portion of the country is ideologically opposed to the price
fixing implied there. And not just people that identify as Republicans.

~~~
zghst
Price fixing is a criminal federal offense of the Sherman Act. Not only does
it affect competing businesses, but it also limits the price of items much
further down the line that have nothing to do with the original vaccine. A
fixed cost on one item like a vaccine doesn't account for the needles,
sanitary faculties, physicians, components of the vaccine, etc., all of which
vary in cost.

Price fixing a vaccine, versus subsidizing it, would affect thousands of
private businesses and spur a flurry of changes across the health care
industry, first and foremost would strike anxiety into the market, driving up
prices. Resources become inefficiently allocated for the vaccine because of
legal requirements, instead of pressing patient needs.

I see many people who want healthcare fixed via government monopolization, but
it is my best belief that healthcare stays private, with various government
subsidies, especially post-investigation of the VA scandal by the Obama
administration.

Private (non-profit) healthcare has more incentive to fight fraud, specialize
in pathologies, appropriately allocate resources, and most importantly,
provide excellent, aboveboard care.

~~~
maxerickson
In my comment it would be the government fixing the price, so I imagine they
would write the law (the one providing 100% coverage of vaccines) to either
comply with the Sherman Act or to be excepted from it.

The idea that the government would provide 100% coverage of vaccines without
fixing prices is one that people are free to argue, meanwhile I will
gesticulate wildly in the direction of Medicaid.

------
BlakePetersen
Not one mention of the plastic bag ban which many experts argue precipitated
this whole mess. Great journalism.

~~~
herbst
Do you have a context for that? Just curious

~~~
45h34jh53k4j
Fairly well documented in the CA media:

[http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/hepatitis-
crisis/sd...](http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/hepatitis-crisis/sd-me-
hepatitis-outbreak-20170624-story.html)

[https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/sep/08/stringers-
pl...](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/sep/08/stringers-plastic-bag-
ban-led-hep-health-crisis/#)

~~~
nutmeg
From the article you reference:

    
    
      But during an outreach trip by two Alpha Project workers on Wednesday, most of the homeless people the team encountered said they hadn’t noticed much of a change in behavior in terms of bag use.
    
      Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, said plastic bags haven’t come up as an issue during her team’s investigation of the outbreak.

~~~
dredmorbius
Please don't use indented <pre> formatting the indicate quotes.

 _The usual HN convention is to use asterisks to italicise quoted paragraphs._

