Blame outbreak on anti-vaxxers

By Jim Graham, Las Vegas

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 | 2 a.m.

The Feb. 24 letter about measles (“Measles outbreak tied to immigration?” Las Vegas Sun) was long on anti-Obama rhetoric but little else.

A popular right-wing meme is that the current measles outbreak was caused by illegal immigrants. Actual facts belie that claim, however. Data from the World Health Organization show that 108 countries, including Central and South America, have higher vaccination rates than the United States. When over 68,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America passed through the U.S. border, the Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement looked after those children. Their protocol was to provide “vaccinations to all children who do not have documentation of previous valid doses of vaccine.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Every year, measles is brought into the United States by unvaccinated travelers (Americans or foreign visitors) who get measles while they are in other countries.”

So, where did “patient zero” come from? According to the CDC, genetic testing of the Disneyland-linked virus shows similarities to strains of the measles found in Dubai, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. The assistant surgeon general said, “We assume that someone got infected overseas, visited the parks and spread the disease to others.”

The CDC said most of the current cases stem from exposures at Disneyland in California. California health officials reported that the cases emerged directly or indirectly from people who worked at or visited the amusement park.

So, no, illegal immigrants are not to blame for the spread of measles. That blame falls squarely on the “anti-vaxxers” who believe the unfounded and debunked conspiracy theories about the dangers associated with vaccines. They think it’s perfectly acceptable to place other children and adults in danger by not inoculating their children.