In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.
The measles outbreak in rural West Texas has grown to 124 cases across nine counties, the state health department said Tuesday, and 18 people are hospitalized.
The outbreak is largely spreading in the Mennonite community in an area where small towns are separated by vast stretches of oil rig-dotted open land but connected due to people traveling between towns for work, church, grocery shopping and other day-to-day errands.
Brownfield Mayor Eric Horton, a Republican, said he believes in the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine because it has been used for so many years and has stopped measles from spreading in the U.S.
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State health officials have said this outbreak is Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Cases have been concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, health department spokeswoman Lara Anton has said — especially among families who attend small private religious schools or are homeschooled.
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The MMR vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing measles infection and severe cases of the disease.
The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old. The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide.
Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, the U.S. saw some 3 million to 4 million cases per year. Now, it’s usually fewer than 200 in a normal year.
There is no link between the vaccine and autism, despite a now-discredited study and health disinformation.
