January 22, 2015

Fox News medical correspondent Marc Siegel lashed out on Thursday at parents who refused to give their kids vaccines for putting everyone else at risk.

Reports this week said that at least 70 cases of measles had been confirmed at Disney theme parks, with 62 of those cases occurring where the anti-vaccination movement is thriving in Orange Country, California.

During his Thursday appearance on Fox News, Siegel, who is an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, wasted no time in blaming anti-vaxxers for the outbreak.

"Let me be clear on this, I see no debate whatsoever. Period," Siegel said. "This is the greatest vaccine that has ever been created in the history of vaccines."

The doctor pointed out that "measles is the most contagious virus known to man."

"If you had measles there would be a 90 percent chance that I would get it by sitting next to you if I weren't vaccinated," he told Fox News host Elisabeth Hasselbeck. "It's so much more contagious than the flu. We were talking about Ebola, this is a million times more contagious than Ebola!"

Siegel condemned parents for following the advice of celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, who has publicly spoken out against vaccines.

"Your celebrities did not go to medical school!" Siegel shouted at the camera. "In California, there's 13,000 parents that are taking a personal belief exemption, allowing their kids to go to school without that second MMR vaccine. You need one after you're 1 year old, and then you need one again before you're 5 or 6 years old."

"I think these parents are putting children at risk in schools. I think schools should consider not allowing these kids in. Make them be homeschooled if they don't have this vaccine. Why should my child be a risk because your child isn't vaccinated?"

Siegel pointed out that medical experts had found that many adults who thought they had lifetime immunity could also be at risk.

"I can check them with a simple blood test because the vaccine can wear off," he explained. "I give boosters to people who are traveling to endemic areas. I would consider giving a booster to people traveling to Disneyland if I found they didn't have immunity."

Siegel concluded by insisting that parents exempting their children from the vaccine was a "really wrong thing to do."

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