Dangerous to the public’s health

Dear Editor,

Dr. Remington Nevin, St. Clair County’s Health Department Medical Director, is becoming known as the “RFK Jr. of Michigan.” I believe he is dangerous to the public’s health.

The Health Department’s recent press releases show Dr. Nevin is focused on making it easier for children to avoid vaccination through waivers.

He has also recommended celebrating the end of COVID with a “Great COVID Cleanup Day” on May 11, even though the COVID virus is still infecting people.

My son and several other people I know had COVID this winter. The virus is not gone; it has mutated, and who knows what the long-term effects are?

Meanwhile, Dr. Nevin requires people who want to get vaccinated at the Health Department to be interviewed by him. People have said he does his best to talk them out of getting vaccinated.

What is wrong with this guy?

What is he going to do to protect our children from the measles outbreak that is spreading in Michigan?

Most people have forgotten how dangerous measles can be, because for over half a century, it was virtually eliminated from the United States by vaccination programs.

In young children and adults over 20, measles complications can include pneumonia, encephalitis (brain swelling), and death.

About 20% of unvaccinated children require hospitalization. Brain swelling can result in seizures, deafness, or lifelong intellectual disability.

Measles is extraordinarily contagious, and even if a child is not ill, but has been exposed at school, public health protocols require that they stay home for 21 days.

Many other students and staff who might also have been exposed would need to quarantine, too.

That’s three weeks of lost schooling for the child and siblings, and three weeks of parents disrupting their work schedules to stay home.

Sincerely,
—Fred Fuller
Yale, Michigan