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Outbreak of Measles In 2005 Shows Risk Of Refusing Vaccines
William Bulkeley Wall Street Journal August 3, 2006; Page D6

Implications of a 2005 measles outbreak in Indiana for sustained elimination of measles in the United States., Parker AA, Staggs W. et al. N Engl J Med. 2006 Aug 3;355(5):447-55
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A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study demonstrates the link between 34 new cases in one Indiana community in 2005, the largest such outbreak in nine years,¹ with a single set of parishioners, 10% of whom were estimated to have refused vaccination because of media reports that associated vaccines with autism.² Of the 34 cases, 33 came from this community and most came from four households.

Commentary

That this outbreak occurred despite the fact that measles vaccinations coverage in Indiana were 92 percent for preschoolers and 98 percent for sixth graders points out the significance of even a small fraction of noncompliant individuals in public health matters.

Footnotes

1. By way of comparison, there were 27 cases throughout the U.S. in 2004; 56 in 2003; 44 in 2002; 116 in 2001 and 86 in 2000.↩
2. Measles vaccinations in the U.S. don’t contain thimerasol, a form of mercury that has raised most of the vaccination concerns.↩