-
ScienceHealthMeasles Is Back With a Vengeance, Killed 200,000 in 2019
A new report from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights a bleak reality: Measles, the highly contagious but vaccine-preventable viral illness, infected at least 860,000 people and killed over 200,000 worldwide in 2019—a roughly 50% jump in deaths from 2016. Sadly, the covid-19 pandemic is likely to make … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthNew Poll About Vaccines Is a Huge Bummer
Many Americans have lost faith in the importance of vaccines over the past two decades, while more than half are unsure or wrongly believe that they can cause autism. At least, those are the somber conclusions of a new Gallup poll released Tuesday. Even worse is that parents of children under 18 have grown more … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthThe U.S. Is Officially Free of Measles—for Now
It looks like we can breathe a sigh of relief. Despite two new cases of measles being reported late last week in New York, federal and state health officials are confident the country’s measles-free status will stay in place. But the new cases highlight just how much a challenge lies ahead in controlling the spread … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthIf No One Gets Measles in the Next Three Days, the U.S. Can Call Itself Measles-Free
On Wednesday, officials from Rockland County, New York declared their almost year-long outbreak of measles over—a mere week before the U.S. would have to forfeit its status of having eradicated any local traces of the disease. If nearby neighborhoods report any more cases in the next few days, we could still lose our measles-free status, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthThe UK Just Lost Its Measles-Free Status, and the U.S. Could Be Next
Progress in fighting measles in Europe has taken a substantial step back. This week, the World Health Organization stripped the UK of its measles-free status, just two years after it commended the country for eradicating the virus locally. The UK’s fate could very well be a harbinger of what will happen to the United States … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealthAnti-Vaxxers Fail to Block New York Law Eliminating Religious Exemptions to Vaccine Requirements
A New York State Supreme Court Justice on Friday rejected a suit brought by 55 families attempting to block the state’s recently passed law “eliminating exemptions to school vaccination requirements on the basis of religious beliefs,” Ars Technica reported. New York is the state hardest hit this year by outbreaks of measles, which the Centers … Continued
By Tom McKay -
ScienceHealthPublic Health Experts Call for Aggressive, Global Push Against Antivaxxers
Public health experts are fed up with the anti-vaccination movement, which is most recently behind a surge of the completely preventable disease measles in the U.S. this year. So much so that a group of them has decided to issue a statement calling for institutions around the world—from search engines and social media outlets to … Continued
By Ed Cara
