Yup, blame it on the anti-vaxxers. New research says low vaccination rates are "likely to blame" for the recent measles outbreak linked to Disneyland.
It was already speculated that those who refused vaccines helped spur the measles outbreak but a new study published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics supports the theory.
To have an outbreak, researchers said communities are well under the herd immunity threshold needed to prevent the disease from traveling, somewhere between 50 percent and 86 percent instead of the minimum 95 percent typically recommended.
Recommended For You
"Preliminary analysis indicates that substandard vaccination compliance is likely to blame for the 2015 measles outbreak," the authors wrote. "Clearly MMR vaccination rates in many of the communities that have been affected by this outbreak fall below the necessary threshold to sustain herd immunity, thus placing the greater population at risk as well."
"The ongoing measles outbreak linked to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, shines a glaring spotlight on our nation's growing antivaccination movement and the prevalence of vaccination-hesitant parents," the study says. "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."
A recent Gallup poll found that fewer Americans say vaccines are vital, despite the news of the measles outbreak. Just about half (54 percent) of Americans surveyed by the polling firm said they thought vaccinations were "extremely important," compared to 64 percent in 2001.
According to the CDC, a total of 173 people have been infected with the measles so far this year, and many of the cases can be linked to Disneyland.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
