The county of Rockland in New York has declared an emergency after 151 people were confirmed being ill with the measles. Due to the severe outbreak, officials will bar all minors under the age of 18 who have not received the MMR vaccine from public spaces until they receive the vaccine or until the emergency expires.
Most of those struck by the disease are from the frum communities, in which the vaccination rates are below the threshold that would provide herd immunity to those not vaccinated. Experts say that about 95% of a population must be vaccinated in order that others who are unable to be vaccinated can be protected. The frum communities in Rockland County are well below that percentage, as the anti-vaxxer movement has gained traction among many in the Orthodox community. Pregnant women, children under 6 months of age, the immunocompromised and immunosuppressed all rely on 95% of the population being vaccinated in order to stay safe. Experts say the MMR vaccine is 97% effective.
As has been reported on extensively, many individuals in Lakewood have begun subscribing to anti-vaxxer theories and notions of conspiracy, believing that vaccines cause autism and various other maladies and disabilities. This has driven down the percentage of people that vaccinate, placing the vulnerable population at higher risk of becoming seriously ill. As the number of people caught up in the pseudoscience and gibberish of the anti-vaxxer community rises, the number of individuals that may be exposing compromised people to the measles and other illnesses rises as well.
This raises the question over whether Ocean County officials will at some point also decide to declare an emergency. While nothing is publicly known to be in the works, the trends are pointing clearly to towards what will eventually become a full-blown crisis as it is now in Rockland County. Will officials preemptively ban unvaccinated people from public areas, or wait until the measles spreads so much that compromised individuals need to practically hide in their homes all day? Time will tell.
Dear Mr. Neuman, I would really like you to read this book and then comment on it on this site: “Vaccines – a reappraisal” by Dr. Richard Moskowitz. He has numerous citations (references) to back up what he writes about. Please get a copy and be in touch with all of us here! Thank you! (Dr. Moskowitz graduated from NYU School of Medicine, and is a family physician for fifty years.)
Let’s do it!!
What is your point? Trying to stir up more hysteria over the antivaxxers? Lakewood doesn’t currently have an outbreak & B”H no one has been seriously affected in Rockland County. Time to move on with this issue.
how many immunocompromised people in Rockland County caught measles during this 7 month period?
How many out of the 151 people who got measles had complications? Probably 45 or 46, because measles causes complications in 30% of people, correct me if I’m wrong.
how many of the 151 ppl. who caught measles didn’t want it? Not many. most are ppl. who wanted to catch it.
Many of those in their 40’s and 50’s were vaccinated but the immunity wore off. From what I was told, this is the age group that is being affected by the new wave of measles. Also, should anyone C”V contract measles it is extremely helpful to take tons of vitamin A, along with vitamin C and plenty of fluids. May this pass without any serious ramifications.
Chasdei hashem there were no complications! Chasdei hashem there were no immune compromised ppl who got sick! Nissim!! Will it take a tragedy to change?
I have an immune compromised child. I hide all the time st home with him. If he gets a cold he may need to be hospitalized. But since the state guidelines for medical exemptions don’t match up with the CDCs own recommendations on who should not receive vaccines, my child can’t get a medical exemption. No doctor can write a medical exemption except the ones that the state allows. No exceptions. And since any sickness is enough to hospitalize him, why should measles frighten me more than anything else? There’s no winner here.
I feel for you. The only winner is ha-bo-tay-ach B’ Hashem. Like in every situation (although some are more challenging!)
The winner is not ha-bo-tay-ach B’ CDC.
Thank you for posting your comment. May your son always be healthy and never need hospitalization for any reason. I don’t know if this works for immune compromised individuals but in general keeping vitamin c levels very high (all the time) helps children (and adults) not catch illnesses from others. (ie: strept, flu, viruses etc.)
Because they can’t single out a town or community…..and because it’s unenforceable this is a thinly veiled threat against our Frum brothers and sisters.
Will they be issuing Yellow Stars to the Unvaccinated?
It’s actually more dangerous to go to a doctor or hospital than to get the measles. Modern medicine has been recognized by Johns Hopkins and others as the third leading cause of death in the United States. Where does measles rank?
I would also like to point out that the medical literature is replete with studies and articles about outbreaks in highly vaccinated populations. Dr. Poland, editor of the journal Vaccine, calls measles a disease of the vaccinated, because of primary and secondary vaccine failure and waning vaccine immunity.
It’s not just the unvaccinated who can catch and spread measles!
Has anyone checked the state law? It appears to be illegal to quarantine healthy people who have not been exposed, no matter vaccination status. By going along with this, the Jewish community is condoning anti-Semitism.
Look up State quarantine and isolation statutes. It’s right there in black and white.
Unfortunately, the Jewish community, for the most part, has been guilty in this area, re- measles. It’s hard then, to complain, when State officials interfere with our education, and with our compliance with fire-safety rules, etc. V-ha-may-vin Yavin.
No I am not daas torah, but just a thought to all the non vaxxers. Yes there will always be anti antisemitism, but it has now reached new heights in this country and we always try to stay away from giving them reasons to hate. This maybe something to put in the equation when weighing whether to vaccinate your children or not. By not vaccinating you are possibly causing undue hatred to Jews. Again this is assuming that you are educated and you thought this out. May everyone stay health.
To SK…Those parents who are educated are afraid to vaccinate their children, and they are not going to take this risk just to avoid antisemitism. Are you able to get a copy of “Vaccines – a reappraisal”? If so, please do and read it. You will better understand parents who are afraid to inject their children with vaccines that have not been properly tested for safety. I am sure you are aware that when a new vaccine is tested, the control group gets another vaccine (not a placebo as is done with all other medical products) or they get an ingredient in the vaccine (for example, with gardasil the control group got injected with aluminum).
I am sure you are aware that vaccine manufacturers cannot be sued for their products, unlike with other medical products. Back in the 1980s the vaccine manufacturers told the govt they could not financially handle all the parents who were suing them for damage or death of their children, and wanted to stop manufacturing vaccines. The govt did not want that to happen so they passed a law that parents cannot sue them anymore. Once that happened, the number of vaccines increased – and continues to increase. There are no safety studies done as to whether all these vaccines given in a short time period to little babies (the current “CDC vaccine schedule” set by ACIP, a govt agency that sets vaccine policy and has many members financially tied to vaccine manufacturers) is safe, according to the IOM’s (Institute of Medicine) report.
There is so much more I can write, but suffice it to say it is the parents who EDUCATE themselves (and not rely on pharma-controlled media) who are wary of vaccines.