Measles: Misinformation Gone Viral

Measles: Misinformation Gone Viral | Hoover Institution:
One of the great achievements of the last century was the effective elimination of many deadly communicable diseases by the widespread deployment of vaccines.
I can still remember the fear that struck the hearts of every family in the early 1950s at the onset of another summer watch against polio, a disease whose spread has since been all but eliminated globally by the innovations of first the Salk (dead virus) and then the Sabin (live virus) vaccines.

A similar triumph occurred with the development of reliable vaccines for measles, a childhood disease that poses a serious threat to the health and life of those who become infected.
Before the measles vaccine in 1963, the death rate from measles was close to twice that from polio. Fortunately, the new vaccine turned the situation around.
In 1963 and 1964, there were over 800,000 cases of measles in the United States.
By 1982, vaccination had largely eliminated the disease.
Measles made a modest comeback around 1990, and then fell quiescent—until the recent outbreak of measles cases at Disneyland in California, which, as it spreads, puts the issue of vaccines back on the table.
...Thus far, the bad news is that private decisions have led people to let down their guard against communicable diseases on the naïve assumption that the diseases won’t spread.
The good news, so far, is that the public response has been sensible. Let's hope, going forward, it stays that way.