Anti-Vaccine Parents Boost Measles Comeback

From the editors, at USA Today:

The outbreak of measles that started at California's Disneyland last month and spread to 10 other states demonstrates how misinformation, misguided celebrities and lax state laws can have tragic consequences.

In the 1960s, measles killed about 450 people a year and disabled many more. By 2000, it was virtually eliminated in the United States, thanks to almost universal use of an effective vaccine. But last year, the U.S. saw 644 cases of measles and now, less than a month into 2015, more than 70 cases have been linked to the Disneyland outbreak.

The numbers might sound small, but they are the outgrowth of a frightening trend, as more parents have fallen under the influence of an anti-vaccine movement. The movement has been fueled by irresponsible celebrities who've spread word of a British study, now thoroughly debunked, that suggested the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine might be linked to autism.

When vaccination rates are very high — as they still are in the U.S. as a whole — everyone is protected by what's known as "herd immunity." It protects the most vulnerable, including a small number of children who for medical reasons should not be vaccinated, infants too young for their first shots, and rare individuals on whom the vaccine doesn't work.

But when individuals selfishly refuse to vaccinate their children, seeking a free ride on the rest of the herd, immunity breaks down and innocents are put at risk...

Selfish indeed.

Selfish, anti-science leftists. See, "Affluent Leftists Dominate the Ranks of Anti-Vaxxers, Overwhelmingly Voted for Obama."