The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that as of yesterday the number of cases of measles in the U. S. had exceeded one thousand:
On June 5, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the number of measles cases nationwide so far in 2019 was 1,001. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar released the following statement:
“The Department of Health and Human Services has been deeply engaged in promoting the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, amid concerning signs that there are pockets of undervaccination around the country. The 1,000th case of a preventable disease like measles is a troubling reminder of how important that work is to the public health of the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alongside others across HHS, will continue our efforts to support local health departments and healthcare providers in responding to this situation, with the ultimate goal of stopping the outbreak and the spread of misinformation about vaccines, and increasing the public’s confidence in vaccines to help all Americans live healthier lives, safe from vaccine-preventable diseases.
“We cannot say this enough: Vaccines are a safe and highly effective public health tool that can prevent this disease and end the current outbreak. The measles vaccine is among the most-studied medical products we have and is given safely to millions of children and adults each year. Measles is an incredibly contagious and dangerous disease. I encourage all Americans to talk to your doctor about what vaccines are recommended to protect you, your family, and your community from measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.â€
So far there have been no reports of deaths associated with measles. If we are to avoid a recurrence of what has happened this year policy changes at the local, state, and federal levels will be needed.
We need a change in attitude and culture as well as policy. The strong antibiotics government sentiment in some groups is one thing that fuels this. We also need to confront the religious liberty claims. It simply doesn’t make sense that a two thousand year old, or older, religion would have faith rules about vaccines. We need to call BS on this stuff. You don’t get to kill others because of some weird belief.
Steve
Catholics cannot truthfully claim religious objections to vaccines. About my views of denominations without systematic theologies or a magisterium and are sola scriptura, the less said the better. Suffice it to say, IMO anti-vax claims on religious grounds are BS.
@steve, the last I looked the stronghold for anti-vaxxers is in the Pacific Northwest, which is a hotbed of atheism.
Religious exemptions are still allowed in almost all states and many allow exemptions based upon personal belief. Google vaccine exemptions NCSL.
The cluster in NY is religious based.
https://khn.org/news/why-measles-hits-so-hard-within-n-y-orthodox-jewish-community/
I spent a lot of time looking this a year ago. This is one of those things that is pretty well split between the left and the right. People on the right like to point out the nuts in Seattle and LA county. People on the left like to point out that it is the rural counties in California, that vote strongly GOP the thave the lowest vaccination rates, and that it was the GOP that actually held anti-vaccination hearings, along with Trump who has always played to the anti vaxxers. The only attempts I am aware of to actually study it found that it was widely spread out among the political spectrum.
https://khn.org/news/why-measles-hits-so-hard-within-n-y-orthodox-jewish-community/
Steve