Medical officials used to worry about the outbreak of long-preventable diseases in poor, remote countries. Now they're fretting over Brooklyn.
Because of widespread but unfounded fears about vaccines, middle class children are coming down with measles, a disease virtually wiped out in the US.
For the second year in a row, New York City has seen an outbreak of the potentially deadly infection, with 11 cases in Brooklyn -- 9 children and two adults. Last year, the city had its biggest measles outbreak since the early 1990s, with 26 victims, mostly toddlers.
Several parents have told health officials they delayed recommended kids' measles vaccines at 12 months, because of debunked theories that vaccines cause autism. "There's a general sense that people just want to make sure their child's OK first," said Dr. Jane Zucker, the city's assistant commissioner for immunization. Autism usually strikes by age 3.
But waiting is dicey, because measles is especially threatening in infants. Americans have forgotten that the infection --known for its itchy red pimples -- can kill, Zucker said: "A quarter million children die around the world each year from measles."
David Kirby, a Brooklyn author of "Evidence of Harm," said most parents are "not anti-vaccine," but worry about giving their one-year-olds three vaccines at once -- for measles, mumps, and rubella. Merck & Co., which manufactures the MMR vaccine, plans to reintroduce separate doses that can be spread out. But in the meantime, by foregoing vaccines, parents are taking a bigger gamble with health of their children.
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