Measles Outbreak Raises Questions About Ease Of Vaccination Waivers. USA Today Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/21, Szabo) reports, “the Disneyland measles outbreak, which has grown to at least 50 people in five states and Mexico, is raising questions about state laws that allow unvaccinated children to attend school and stoking heated arguments about vaccination.” Although “all states require that children receive recommended vaccines before attending school, some make it easier than others to get exemptions.” As a result, “infectious disease outbreaks are more common in areas with large numbers of unvaccinated students.” Medical experts believe states and schools should make it more difficult for students to get waivers from being vaccinated. The New York Times Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, A13, Nagourney, Goodnough, Subscription Publication) reports, “the latest outbreak has renewed a heated debate about an anti-vaccination movement championed largely by parents who believe discredited research linking vaccines to autism, or who believe that the risks of some vaccines, including the measles inoculations, outweigh any potential benefit.” According to infectious disease expert Dr. James Cherry, the outbreak at Disney is, the Times reports, “‘100 percent connected’ to the anti-immunization campaign.” In California, “the vaccination exemption rate among kindergarten students...was 3.1 percent in the 2013-14 school year,” though “health officials said there were pockets across the state, including wealthy neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Orange Counties and enclaves in Northern California, where the exemption rate jumped into the double digits.” Cases In California Rise To 67. The Los Angeles Times Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Xia, Lin) reports that the number of cases stemming from the Disney outbreak has now reached 67. Of the 59 patients in California, “the vaccination status is known for 34” of them. “Of those, 28 were unvaccinated, one had received partial vaccination and five were fully vaccinated.” A separate article in the Los Angeles Times Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Lin, Xia) reports that “some medical experts have also expressed concern about the five patients who contracted measles despite being fully vaccinated.” They say “their cases point to a lesser-known aspect of the measles vaccine: That even those who get the shots have a small risk of getting sick, especially older people who were immunized in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.” Meanwhile, experts say “there’s a 5% chance of vaccine failure in people who have had only one dose of measles vaccine, and a less than 1% chance in people with both doses” Bloomberg Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/21, Knowles), the AP Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Chang), the Wall Street Journal Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Porter, Subscription Publication), Reuters Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22), CBS News Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22), CNN Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/21, Ellis, Levs, Hamasaki), Fox News Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/21), TIME Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Stout), the Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/21, Pelham), The San Francisco Chronicle Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Allday), U-T San Diego Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/21, Sisson), the CBS Evening News (1/21, story 3, 2:15, Pelley), NBC Nightly News (1/21, story 4, 0:30, Williams), and the Los Angeles Times Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (1/22, Hiltzik) also had coverage of the outbreak.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 18:39:46 +0000
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