Beyond The Anti-Vaccination Movement: Poverty Plays A Role In Kids Not Getting Their Shots
Although much of the outbreak conversation has focused around ideological and religious exemptions, doctors say a critical piece of the puzzle is being ignored. "We see large coverage gaps among children who are living below the poverty line compared to those at or above poverty and among children who have no insurance," says Dr. Holly Hill, a medical officer and epidemiologist at the CDC. "The highest disparity is among the uninsured compared to those with private insurance." Meanwhile, the number of measles cases continues to rise across the country.
NPR:
The Other Reasons Kids Aren't Getting Vaccinations: Poverty And Health Care Access
The toddler looking up at Dr. Melanie Seifman in her Washington, D.C., exam room seems a little dazed. It could be because she just woke up from a nap at daycare. It could be that she remembers the shots she got last time, and she knows what's coming. The little girl is catching up on some vaccines she's behind on: missing doses of the DTaP and polio vaccines. She's over two years old — both of those shots are supposed to happen at a baby's six-month check up. (Simmons-Duffin, 5/20)
The Washington Post:
Anti-Vaxxers Target Communities Battling Measles
In a suburban shopping center an hour north of New York City, hundreds of mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in a sex-partitioned ballroom to hear leaders of the national anti-vaccine movement. Sustained applause greeted Del Bigtree, a former television-producer-turned-activist who often wears a yellow star , similar to those required of Jews in Nazi Germany, to show solidarity with parents ordered to keep unvaccinated children at home. Bigtree described the purported dangers of childhood vaccines in phrases that also conjured the Nazis. (Sun and Guarino, 5/20)
The New York Times:
Measles Outbreak Now At 880 Cases, With Fastest Growth Still In New York
There have now been 880 measles cases reported in this year’s outbreak, already the largest since 1994, federal health officials said on Monday. An additional 41 cases were reported last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 30 were in New York State, which is having the country’s most intense outbreak, largely in Orthodox Jewish communities. Most of those new cases were in New York City, and nine were in suburban Rockland County. (McNeil, 5/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Measles Outbreaks In U.S. Tick Up
That is 41 more cases than a week ago, and included one additional state, Oklahoma, where a person contracted the measles after traveling domestically and internationally. By contrast, the number of confirmed cases had increased by 75 the previous week. This year is the worst for measles in the U.S. in 25 years, and the additional cases of the highly contagious disease brings the count closer to the 963 cases reported in 1994. (Abbott, 5/20)
The Hill:
Measles Outbreak Spreads To 24 States
The total number of cases is inching closer to the record 963 cases reported across the U.S. in 1994. The current outbreak is still the largest since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. (Weixel, 5/20)
NH Times Union:
State Official Says Measles Vaccine Is A Success
Despite news this week that a child in Keene is confirmed to have measles, the state’s epidemiologist says the vaccine for the potentially deadly illness is very effective. “That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t seen large outbreaks,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. New Hampshire’s vaccination rate for measles, typically taken in the form of the MMR vaccine that also protects from mumps and rubella, is in the mid to high 90% range for children and adolescents, Chan said. This has kept the disease from spreading, despite some rare confirmed cases, he said. (Fisher, 5/20)
