The claim that the anti-vaccination movement is too small to be important is misleading(1). Only 2% of the population is not vaccinated and this small size of people ,theoretically, should be protected through herd immunity. However, the US has seen a rise in measles outbreak since 2003, when the anti-vaccination movement got stronger (2). So what are we missing?
Truth is, anti-vaccine parents tend to live in their own communities. Anti-vaccination is an unfunded belief and it is more easily spread through religious like patterns in close communities. A 2017 article by The Washington Post reported that up to 40% of students in some private schools were not vaccinated (2)! This is extremely dangerous and explains the recent rise in measles outbreak in the United States. Keep in mind that non-vaccinated children don’t just pose threat to their own health. Babies under 12 months old are too young to be vaccinated and they are at risk if they live in a largely non-vaccinated community. Read this JAMA article for more proof that anti-vaccination movement is, in fact, causing public health concerns (3).
- http://theconversation.com/anti-vaxxer-effect-on-vaccination-rates-is-exaggerated-92630
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-energizes-the-anti-vaccine-movement-in-texas/2017/02/20/795bd3ae-ef08-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?utm_term=.ed40826eac74
- Phadke VK, Bednarczyk RA, Salmon DA, Omer SB, Association Between Vaccine Refusal and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the United States: A Review of Measles and Pertussis. JAMA. 2016 Mar 15;315(11):1149-58. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.1353.