This is frightening. The 2015 measles outbreak—more than 100 cases in 14 states so far—began in Southern California. But the Golden State is not the only state providing nonmedical exemptions from vaccinations, report
Gabrielle Canon and AJ Vicens.
Every state requires children to get the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine before they enter kindergarten. (The vaccine is usually administered in two doses after a child's first birthday.) All states offer medical exemptions for kids with allergies, cancer, or compromised immune systems. Most offer religious exemptions as well. And now a growing number of states—20 as of this year—permit personal belief exemptions (PBEs) that allow parents to not to vaccinate for reasons of philosophy or conscience.
Last year, 644 cases were reported across 27 states. Public health officials worry that measles—which had been eradicated in the U.S. as of 2000—could make a comeback if parents continue to opt out of vaccinating their children.
Anne Schuchat, an assistant surgeon general and the director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, stressed that measles could get "a foothold in the United States and [become] endemic again."