The public health and medical cultures are built on candid dialogue where many viewpoints are taken into account to improve patient care and overall health. Psychological safety is necessary for this process to occur, allowing people to feel comfortable enough to differ and talk freely. All of these elements work together to produce a just culture that enhances organizations and systems and is being widely adopted in the country’s healthcare system.
But given the political attacks and prejudice against science and experts, we must question whether just culture is being stifled in the field of public health. The open discourse among medical and public health specialists over infectious disease control strategies related to COVID-19 and, more recently, measles, has regressed in the wake of a series of legislative policy changes in Florida that impact higher education, healthcare, and public health.
On January 3, 2024, State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo strongly advised against the COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations due to fears that they contain DNA, a recommendation that was met with strong criticism from the FDA, the CDC, and medical and public health professionals. This idea is in direct opposition to a wealth of scientific evidence that indicates that vaccines do not change an individual’s genes, even though they do include trace amounts of DNA associated with vaccine manufacture.
This announcement followed one made on September 13, 2023, which suggested that those under 65 should not get the new COVID-19 vaccine, despite the fact that people under 65 had been the cause of 25% of COVID-19 deaths. He had previously advised young adult men not to get the immunization due to worries about myocarditis. This myocarditis risk is quite uncommon, though, and the risk of myocarditis after COVID-19 is much higher than it is after vaccination.
Following these declarations, these Florida-only policies drew widespread national condemnation. In contrast, there was no support or opposition from the Florida medical and public health community on these contentious recommendations. In contrast to the early years of the pandemic, when Florida medical associations, medical schools, and public health specialists frequently made public comments regarding the state’s COVID-19 mitigation and vaccination programs, this tepid response.
A measles outbreak is currently occurring in an elementary school in South Florida. It is the parents’ decision to decide whether to send their highly susceptible children to school even if they may still be contagious, according to Dr. Ladapo, not the county health officer. Even while this outbreak is still early, we are witnessing a similar scenario in which there is widespread national opposition to his proposal and only a small number of Florida medical professionals are responding.
The measles virus spreads quickly and can remain in the air for hours, making it five to ten times more contagious than COVID-19. There is a very high probability that an uninfected person exposed to the virus would contract it, which can cause hearing loss, pneumonia, and encephalitis.
Reference Article- From COVID-19 to Measles, Florida’s War on Public Health
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