In The Politics of Autism, I look at the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms have helped spread this dangerous myth.
From January 1 to June 27, 2019, 1,095 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 28 states. This is an increase of 18 cases from the previous week. This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1992 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.Soumya Karlamangla and Melody Gutierrez at the Los Angeles Times:
In the school year that ended last month, 4,812 kindergartners had obtained medical exemptions from vaccines, a 70% increase from two years ago, when the vaccination law first took effect, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The data suggest that large concentrations of medical exemptions are being granted to school children in relatively affluent parts of the state, such as Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties.
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The newly released data analyzed by The Times also show:
- The kindergarten vaccination rate in California dropped to 94.8% in 2018-19 from 95.1% in 2017-18 and 95.6% the previous year
- The school districts with the most medical exemptions were L.A. Unified, Capistrano Unified and San Diego Unified. The rate of medical exemptions in Capistrano Unified — a smaller district in Orange County — was 10 times higher than that of L.A. Unified’s.
- About 1,500 schools in California had kindergarten vaccination rates below 95%.
- At 117 schools, 10% or more of the kindergartners were not immunized because their doctors had excused them from vaccines. At 17 schools, 30% or more of the kindergarten class had medical exemptions on file.
- Overall, .9% of kindergartners had medical exemptions in 2018-19, up from .7% in 2017-18 and .5% the previous year.
