Measles is a highly contagious,vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by measles virus. Other names include morbilli,rubeola,red measles,and English measles. Both rubella,also known as German measles,and roseola are different diseases caused by unrelated viruses.
Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance,or refusal,of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate,delaying vaccines,accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use,or using certain vaccines but not others. Although adverse effects associated with vaccines are occasionally observed,the scientific consensus that vaccines are generally safe and effective is overwhelming. Vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore,the World Health Organization characterizes vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten global health threats.
Andrew Jeremy Wakefield is a British fraudster,discredited academic,anti-vaccine activist,and former physician.
Warnings About Vaccination Expectations NZ (WAVESnz),formerly the Immunisation Awareness Society (IAS),is a New Zealand anti-vaccination lobby group.
Mike Freiberg is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2013. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL),Freiberg represents District 43B in the central Twin Cities metropolitan area,which includes the cities of Golden Valley and Robbinsdale and parts of Hennepin County.
Steve Hixson Toth is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 15,The Woodlands area.
Tony Dale Tinderholt is an American politician who is Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Arlington,Texas currently representing District 94. On January 13,2015,Tinderholt succeeded Diane Patrick,a four-term representative whom he unseated in the Republican primary election on March 4,2014.
Measles is extremely contagious,but surviving the infection results in lifelong immunity,so its continued circulation in a community depends on the generation of susceptible hosts by birth of children. In communities which generate insufficient new hosts the disease will die out. This concept was first recognized by Bartlett in 1957,who referred to the minimum number supporting measles as the critical community size (CCS). Analysis of outbreaks in island communities suggested that the CCS for measles is c. 250,000. Due to the development of vaccination against measles,the world has seen a 99% decrease in measles related cases compared cases before the vaccine was developed.
Texans for Vaccine Choice (TFVC) is an anti-vaccine Facebook group turned political action committee in Texas which advocates for personal belief exemptions to vaccination requirements,based on "a collection of fake news,half- truths,and conspiracy theories". Andrew Wakefield,the disgraced former medical researcher and originator of the MMR autism hoax,and infectious disease specialist Peter Hotez,both describe TFVC's lobbying as very effective,with the rate of Texas students opting out of at least one vaccine at least doubling in around five years and over 50,000 Texas schoolchildren not being vaccinated.
In early months of 2019,a measles outbreak occurred in the Portland metropolitan area,including the Clark County,Washington suburbs,in the United States. At the time,the outbreak was the largest outbreak in more than two decades;outbreaks in 2019 in areas including Brooklyn and Rockland County,New York have since seen far greater numbers of cases.
Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000 by the World Health Organization due to the success of vaccination efforts. However,it continues to be reintroduced by international travelers,and in recent years,anti-vaccination sentiment has allowed for the reemergence of measles outbreaks.
The 2019 New York City measles outbreak was a substantial increase in the number of measles cases reported in the state of New York,primarily in New York City and neighboring Rockland County,New York in 2019,relative to the previous year.
The 2019–2020 New Zealand measles outbreak was an epidemic that affected New Zealand,primarily the Auckland region. The outbreak was the worst epidemic in New Zealand since an influenza epidemic in 1999,and is the worst measles epidemic since 1938.
The 2019 Samoa measles outbreak began in September 2019. As of 6 January 2020,over 5,700 cases of measles and 83 deaths had been reported,out of a population of 200,874,over three per cent. The cause of the outbreak was decreased vaccination rates among newborns,from 74% in 2017 to 31–34% in 2018,even though nearby islands had rates near 99%.
Taylor Winterstein is an Australian-Samoan online influencer and conspiracy theorist best known for her public anti-vaccination stance. Winterstein has been heavily criticised in several South Pacific,and Australasian countries for her anti-vaccination rhetoric and her seminars have been called "irresponsible" by the Australian Medical Association and a "public health threat" by the Samoan Ministry of Health. She claims she has not encouraged non-vaccination,rather,"informed consent" and "freedom of choice".
The 2019 Tonga measles outbreak began in October 2019 after a squad of Tongan rugby players came back from New Zealand. By 5 January 2020,there had been 612 cases of measles.
The New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice (NJCVC) is a state-level anti-vaccination group advocating against mandatory vaccination. Scientists and medical experts have countered many of these statements,arguments against vaccination being contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
Suzie Pollock is an American politician who served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 123rd district. A member of the Republican Party,she was elected in 2018 and assumed office in 2019.
Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom (OAMF) is one of the main anti-vaccination organizations in Ohio. A non-profit group,it frequently lobbies politicians to favor legislative action designed to weaken Ohio's vaccination coverage.
Matthew Haston Krause is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 93rd district from 2013 to 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party.
