Despite Deadly Measles Exposure, Vaccines Still Not a Priority for Some People

Measles was declared to be eliminated from the United States back in 2000, but a resurfacing of the life-threatening disease has occurred in California. A student from UC Berkeley is believed to have contracted measles in the Philippines and rode the local transit system in San Francisco.

Despite thousands of riders being exposed to the disease on the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, anti-vaccine advocates are still staying strong to their opinions. Notable public figures such as Jim Carrey, Jenny McCarthy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Katie Couric believe that vaccines are linked to autism and other medical conditions.

The California Department of Public Health reported 14 measles cases this week, in which seven cases were intentionally unvaccinated. But these were not the only cases in the past year. In 2013, 189 cases of measles were reported in New York, California, and North Carolina. Studies increasingly show that there is no medical connection with vaccines to autism or other diseases.

Dr. Nina Shapiro of UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine is a strong believer of vaccinations because of the resurfacing of various diseases that were previously reported to be eliminated. Small outbreaks of measles and mumps have occurred in recent years, prompting medical experts to express the importance of vaccinations.

"Some parents think that because some of the illnesses for which kids get immunized are extremely rare these days, there's little reason to vaccinate," Shapiro wrote in this Los Angeles Times article. "But here's the reality: These diseases do exist, and we're already seeing some of them make a comeback."

Dr. Shapiro also reported that only 58% of kindergarteners at a Malibu elementary had received proper vaccinations for measles, polio, meningitis, and pertussis. She says that many parents are concerned about these vaccinations raising the risk of autism, even though various medical studies have disproved that belief.

Many believe it's reasonable to bypass the flu vaccination, because the virus can only severely danger infants and the elderly. But more seriously diseases and illnesses previously mentioned could be a threat to public health, and many medical experts believe not enough parents are properly vaccinating their children.

To read more about this vaccination issue, visit this LiveScience article and this Los Angeles Times article.