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Anti-vaccine nonsense spurred NY's largest outbreak in decades
Health officials in New York are cautiously optimistic that they have a large measles outbreak under control after tackling the noxious anti-vaccine myths and unfounded fears that fueled the disease's spread.
Since last fall, New York has tallied 177 confirmed cases of measles, the largest outbreak the state has seen in decades. It began with infected travelers, arriving from parts of Israel and Europe where the highly contagious disease was spreading. In New York, that spread has largely been confined to ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. As measles rippled through those insular religious communities, health officials ran into members who were wary of outsiders as well as those who harbor harmful myths and fears about vaccines. This included the completely false-yet-pernicious belief that the measles vaccine causes autism.
To quash the outbreak, health officials met with rabbis and pediatricians in the community, who in turned urged community members to be vigilant and, above all, get vaccinated, according to The New York Times. "Good people, great parents were terrified," Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, founder of Darchei Noam yeshiva in Monsey in Rockland County, told the Times. Despite the fears, he insisted parents vaccinate their children. "They felt that I was asking to give their children something that would harm them."
(Score: 3, Informative) by ikanreed on Friday January 18 2019, @08:52PM (3 children)
I always have an answer for the idiotic bullshit I write.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 18 2019, @09:03PM (1 child)
More idiotic BS, no doubt.
(Score: 2, Troll) by ikanreed on Friday January 18 2019, @09:12PM
Oh absolutely, I'm a huge fan of bullshit such as not murdering my own children.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday January 18 2019, @10:03PM
You're doing better than me then.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.