Anti-Vaxxers to Blame for Disneyland Measles Outbreak, Report Concludes

A new report suggests that vaccination rates are as low as 50 percent in some areas affected by the current measles outbreak in California. Image via Shutterstock.

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The anti-vaccination movement is likely to blame for the recent measles outbreak linked to a Disneyland, according to research published Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Pediatrics publication.

“The ongoing measles outbreak linked to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, shines a glaring spotlight on our nation’s growing anti- vaccination movement and the prevalence of vaccination-hesitant parents,” the Boston-based scientists wrote in the research paper.

The scientists relied on publicly available statistics to draw their conclusions, they said.

“Rapid growth of cases across the United States indicates that a substantial percentage of the exposed population may be susceptible to infection due to lack of, or incomplete, vaccination,” the researchers wrote.

“Our study estimates that MMR vaccination rates among the exposed population in which secondary cases have occurred might be as low as 50 percent and likely no higher than 86 percent,” the researchers wrote, adding that a percentage of 96 to 99 percent of vaccinated residents is needed to create a “herd” immunity.

The low vaccination rates are “placing the greater population at risk as well” as those who come into immediate contact with an infected person, according to the researchers.

To date, there have been 133 cases of measles reported in the state as a part of this current outbreak that began in December, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The most recent figures show a county breakdown as follows:

• ALAMEDA: 6
• CONTRA COSTA: 1
• LOS ANGELES: 27
• City of Long Beach*: 2
• City of Pasadena*: 4
• MARIN: 2
• MERCED: 1
• ORANGE: 35
• RIVERSIDE: 8
• SAN BERNARDINO: 12
• SAN DIEGO: 14
• SAN MATEO: 4
• SANTA CLARA: 3
• SOLANO: 1
• VENTURA: 13

Of the California cases, 40 were traced back to visitors or workers at Disneyland between Dec. 17-20, according to the state. Thirty more were then traced back to the household or close contacts of a confirmed case.

Eleven people contracted the disease in a community setting such as an emergency room where someone from the above pool was seeking treatment for measles.

In 49 cases, it’s unknown how the disease was contracted, “...but are presumed to be linked to the outbreak based on a combination of descriptive epidemiology or strain type,” health officials said.

Of the patients the state has vaccination records for, 57 did not get shots and 20 had one or more doses of the MMR vaccine, according to the state.

There are 173 cases reported in 17 states this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Measles cases have been reported in Washington, D.C., Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

The outbreaks in Illinois, Washington state and Nevada are unrelated to Disneyland, according to the CDC.

From Dec. 28 to March 6, 142 people from seven states came down with measles from the Disneyland outbreak. The states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah and Washington state, according to the CDC.

There were 644 measles cases in 27 states, the most since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, according to the CDC.

In most cases, the victims were unvaccinated, according to the CDC.

The CDC reported on Feb. 13 when there were 110 cases of measles, 45 percent were unvaccinated, 5 percent had one dose and 6 percent had two doses and only one person had three doses.

Twelve of those afflicted with measles were too young to get shots, and of those who were eligible to get shots, 28 intentionally took a pass based on personal beliefs and one had an “alternative plan” for immunization, according to the CDC.

The 28 who did not get vaccinated were 18 children and 10 adults, according to the CDC.

The patients have ranged in age from six weeks to 70 years, with the median age 22, according to the CDC.

Experts suspect the outbreak started with a traveler who got infected overseas and then visited Disneyland while infectious, according to the CDC. Scientists say the measles virus in this outbreak matches the one in an outbreak in the Philippines last year.

– City News Service and Patch Editor Renee Schiavone contributed to this report.

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