Madison Harvey - Anti-vaccine groups blamed for measles outbreak

Summary - Health officials are stressing the importance of getting vaccinated due to an outbreak of the measles continues rise in Minnesota.  There are 48 cases of the measles, mostly affecting unvaccinated Somali-American children, according to data released by the state of Minnesota.  Out of the 48 cases, 46 are children 10 years old and younger, 41 are Somali-American and 45 have not been vaccinated against the disease, according to the data.  This is the state's largest outbreak in over two decades and it appears to have started in a Somali community, where vaccine skepticism has recently spread.  Kristen Ehresmann, the director of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Division at the Minnesota Department of Health said, "I want to be very clear that this outbreak has nothing to do with being Somali.  It's just the sheer fact of being unvaccinated,"  The Somalian community has see an uptick in vaccine resistance because of the fears of the link to the vaccine and autism.  Ehresmann said that research shows that any side affects are rare and there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism.

Analysis - This article was written by Jacqueline Howard with CNN to inform the public of the serious situation that is taking place in Minnesota and the importance of getting vaccinated.  I understand peoples concerns about the link to autism but there is no evidence of this and I with what we know now I recommend getting the vaccination.


http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/08/health/measles-minnesota-somali-anti-vaccine-bn/index.html