Measles is on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control reports 64 measles cases between January and April 2008, the highest number in recent years. Declining immunization rates and immigration are felt to be responsible and this has created the setting for a major outbreak.
Britain is experiencing its worst outbreak in 20 years. London's Daily Mail blames the Andrew Wakefield and his debunked vaccine claims which resulted in an 80% plummet in MMR vaccinations.
While the autism-vaccine connection has been disproven repeatedly, the prophets of the anti-vaccine movement are too caught up in their own opinions to understand that measles actually kills children. Consider this: Before introduction of measles vaccination in 1963, approximately 3 to 4 million suffered with measles annually in the United States; approximately 400 – 500 died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and 1,000 developed chronic disability from measles encephalitis.
Those who fail to immunize selfishly put your children at risk. Responsible parents everywhere should be outraged.
Image courtesy of the CDC.