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: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday January 19 2019, @02:46AM (1 child)
I think you could work up a good five or so conspiracy theories from this -- white supremacism, non-kosher vaccines, divine vengeance, religion-based group insularity, general religion-bashing, there's more I'm sure. Just pick a couple and run with them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 19 2019, @05:45AM
Just like staying home on 9/11 (I heard but never verified...), they know whats up. Even if vaccines are largely harmless today, governments will not be able to help themselves and will eventually use mandatory injections for more nefarious purposes. It has already begun: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/11/cia-fake-vaccinations-osama-bin-ladens-dna [theguardian.com]