At bigger outlets, there's a better chance that the person who wrote the headline isn't the person who wrote the story. My beef is with whoever wrote this headline about the "festival of viruses." Kids go to school and get sick … then they get better and return to school. They can make them wear masks, but they don't do any good. Let's try it again anyway.
This is a terrible way to talk about children, schools, and public health. https://t.co/guw6QQwJpp pic.twitter.com/7wArzUmWGi
— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) August 31, 2023
Amelia Templeton is Oregon Public Broadcasting’s health reporter, covering COVID-19, health inequality, and Oregon’s unique approach to health care.
Children are back in school in many parts of Oregon this week, and respiratory virus season is around the corner.
Parents, prepare to marvel at the sheer number of viruses children can catch and the amount of snot that can droop from a tiny nose.
While there’s likely no avoiding the many unnamed colds that circulate, health care providers say Oregonians will have more options than ever to minimize the consequences of an infection with one of the now-familiar big three: COVID-19, RSV and influenza.
The whole article essentially tells you to get your kids vaccinated.
"Parents, prepare to marvel at the sheer number of viruses children can catch and the amount of snot that can droop from a tiny nose."
— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) August 31, 2023
This is true of all human beings -- all mammals -- and it's weird how some Americans think only children spread disease.https://t.co/guw6QQwJpp
What kind of depraved person writes that headline? Maybe it was @ameliaOPB’s editor, so she didn’t write that herself?
— Eli Klein (@TheEliKlein) August 31, 2023
Do they mean “festival of viruses“ or “clown show of viruses.“
— c essene (@c_essene) August 31, 2023
Though we have to go in the way back machine, it is important to remember that human life evolved from viruses.
The damage began with the media and teachers calling children dirty little disease vectors. Abhorrent. The toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube and now it’s impossible to get it back in. 🫤
— Kristen Mag (@kristenmag) August 31, 2023
Remember teachers writing their own obituaries and sending them to the governor to prevent them from going back to the classroom and certain death?
Exposure to a “festival of viruses” is exactly how a child’s immune system develops, in order to provide a lifetime of protection
— James McDaniel (@JamesMcDaniel) August 31, 2023
Welcome to Oregon. You’re not allowed to build your immune system naturally.
— Nicole 𝔻e Graff (@MamaNikki2007) August 31, 2023
Kids always get sick at the start of school. But they get better quickly and life moves on. The fact that schools are germ fiestas is not news.
— The Atomic Mom 🇺🇸 (@theatomicmom) August 31, 2023
They're de-normalizing childhood illnesses that are a normal part of childhood and parenting. It's pathological.
— Greg Gransden (@gregatval) August 31, 2023
Exactly.
Every bacteria and virus they contract is training their immune system to recognize and defeat the entire spectrum of diseases that humans are subjected to.
— Roy Nathanson (@roy_nathanson) August 31, 2023
While children are developing, they NEED to be rolling around in the dirt with all the other snot-nosed kids.
@opb loves to treat kids as virus vectors and promoted fear & school closures- while their reporters baked sour dough and write from the couch.
— Kelly Tilden (@Notteagh) August 31, 2023
Who are they trying to scare with that headline? Parents? Kids? Teachers?
***
