This is what used to be called "locking the barn door after the horse is out:"
Yes, now that measles are spreading all over the Pacific Northwest, parents are starting to realize there's a down side to refusing vaccinations:
In Washington, you can reject vaccines for your kids for "philosophical" reasons. Now lawmakers are trying to tighten that up.
But the same kind of people who spread the pseudo-science that led to the measles outbreak are fighting back. Of course they are! If I had my way, you couldn't claim your children as tax deductions without providing proof of vaccination.
Do you know how contagious measles are? A person with measles can walk through a room, and two hours later, any non-vaccinated person who enters the room has a 90% chance of coming down with the disease, according to a Washington Post story this week.
And if a child with measles exposes other children in an non-vaccinated community, the odds are very high that it spreads like wildfire. Of course, it's not just children at risk: Anyone with a suppressed immune system (like the elderly, infants, cancer patients undergoing chemo or anyone treated with immune suppressant drugs like Humira or other biologics) is vulnerable.
How bad can it get? Measles are now spreading in the Phillipines' capital city of Manila, thanks to similar conspiracy theories. Fifty-five children are now dead:
Turns out Manila's Public Attorney posted that vaccines are bioweapons. Oops!
Learn about herd immunity. Don't be so gullible, people.
Correction: I originally identified the site of the outbreak in Oregon. It's not, it's in Washington state.
