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Measles Outbreaks Highlight Importance of Immunization

131 children affected by outbreak so far in 2008

September 5, 2008
National immunization rates have remained at record high levels, rising in the past year to 77.4 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Survey.

Despite this high coverage, recent measles outbreaks demonstrate that growing pockets of people across the country are refusing vaccines due in part to unsubstantiated fears about vaccine safety.

The measles outbreaks this year have infected 131 children thus far and continue to spread; 91 percent of the children infected were not vaccinated. A study published in the journal Public Library of Science One once again confirmed that the measles vaccine is not linked to autism.

"The MMR question has now been asked and answered, over 20 times," said Amy Pisani, executive director of Every Child By Two, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of the need for children to be vaccinated and immunized. "The MMR vaccine does not cause autism. We now need to use limited autism research dollars to look where the answer might actually be, not where we know the answer clearly is not. Our children are at serious risk of contracting devastating, but wholly preventable, diseases."

"We are seeing outbreaks of measles again, a disease we had almost eliminated in the United States," said actress Amanda Peet, celebrity spokeswoman for Every Child By Two's "Vaccinate Your Baby" campaign. "The rumored link between vaccines and autism has been clearly disproven, yet the threat of these diseases is very real. Parents have to get the facts: vaccines save lives."

Every Child By Two's new campaign with urges parents to immunize their children against vaccine-preventable diseases. The "Vaccinate Your Baby" campaign addresses misinformation about vaccines that causes confusion among parents and puts children at risk.

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