Officials are blaming the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland parks on a kid of “anti-vaxxers”, parents who refuse to immunize their children from deadly diseases,
Apparently, as the theory goes, somebody’s non- vaccinated kid caught the measles while traveling abroad then went to one of the Disney Parks in California and sneezed. It was the little action needed for all the other anti-vaxxer kids at that park to be exposed and come down with the deadly disease.
Sheesh!
A total of 64 children since December in California have contracted the highly contagious disease, a likely impact of the anti-immunization movement, the Washington Post reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that measles is so contagious that if “one person has it, 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.”
And there you have it. We knew it was coming.
The outbreak has gotten so bad, California officials issued a warning telling anyone under 12 who is not vaccinated to avoid Disney, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Disney has told its employees in contact with measles-sickened co-workers to stay home until they can prove they’ve been vaccinated and undergo a blood test.
It’s a case of too much education, a new study says, finding that anti-vaxxers are affluent, educated and cluster in certain communities and infect each others’ thinking on the issue.
It’s unfortunate. As I’ve blogged before, I could have died from catching German Measles while a small child living in my native Sierra Leone, West Africa decades ago. Vaccinations were a premium and privilege that all kids did not get back when I was growing up.
My best friend and I contracted the disease at the same time and he died.
It is for this reason, I am always baffled by those who decide against vaccinating their kids, and to take their chances, believing they are protecting their kids, and not putting them as risk for early death. A report in 2011, found that the study that catapulted the modern anti-vaxx movement was a big fraud.
Baffles the mind!
Sound off in the comments. Risk worth taking or reckless option to not vaccinate?