It's an infectious world after all
In December,
an unvaccinated woman went to Disneyland and came down with the measles while at the park. She flew home after that. Since then, we've seen dozens of cases crop up all over the country—more than 50 in California alone and counting. Yesterday we got news that
an Orange County high school sent two dozen kids home to prevent an outbreak from an infected student.
Tuesday night, news broke that Disneyland employees have now been diagnosed with measles as well.
"There is evidence of ongoing measles transmission in Orange County and at Disneyland Parks," Nicole Stanfield, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency, said in a statement.
"Several Disneyland employees in multiple jurisdictions" have been diagnosed with measles, Stanfield said. She added: "This is not unexpected."
Measles has also spread to several other states and even Mexico at this point. This is all a stark reminder that no matter what Jenny McCarthy might have told you,
vaccinations matter.
The Disneyland measles outbreak is a stark reminder that pathogens can gain a foothold where vulnerable people congregate. That's why states require children to be fully vaccinated before entering kindergarten.
"Not surprisingly, areas that are under-immunized directly correlate with those areas at greatest risk of infections when they occur," says Dr. Paul Offit, who directs the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and was not associated with the study. When enough people stop vaccinating, he says, measles and whooping cough, among the most contagious diseases, rapidly exploit holes in community, or herd, immunity.
For more, watch NBC's coverage here: