Measles Outbreak Raises Questions About Ease Of Vaccination Waivers.

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 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.” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/us/measles-cases-linked-to-disneyland-rise-and-debate-over-vaccinations-intensifies.html?_r=0