Unvaccinated? Uninvited.

Good afternoon, Charlotte!

By now, many of you may have heard about the measles outbreak that originated recently from Disney's California Adventure theme park. Unfortunately, this article from TIME Magazine tells us that the number of confirmed cases in the United States since January 1 already stands at 102 as of January 30. While neither Rob nor I are licensed medical professionals and therefore do not have the educational background to tell you to go out and vaccinate your children right this instant or commit yourself to the fiery pits of hell for all eternity, the TIME article does mention that 92% of physicians attribute the spread of this measles outbreak to parents' not vaccinating their children. TIME also notes that measles can cause serious complications, like deafness, pneumonia, and long-term brain damage.

The doctor is ready for you now.

While much of the debate on vaccination thus far has revolved about the closely held religious beliefs of parents and the risk that unvaccinated children pose to the general public, we also found this interesting article from NPR outlining some cases in which children are unable to be vaccinated due to compromised immune systems, and are therefore at a severely heightened risk of contracting measles from those within the healthy population that are not vaccinated because of a choice made by the parents.

Obviously, measles is a serious disease and could potentially become a public health emergency if it continues to spread. Further, please feel free to reference this page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding symptoms, implications of contracting measles, and additional information about the disease. While we can't recommend specific medical advice, we can gladly help you reference information from professional sources!

Some parents pushing for vaccinations have even come out to say that schools should bar children who are unvaccinated, as it puts their children at risk. This January 29 article from NPR, also regarding the family mentioned in the one above, outlines this argument from their point of view. Essentially, Mr. Krawitt says that if your child is unvaccinated, they should be uninvited (see what we did there).

And speaking of being uninvited, and in the Alanis Morissette theme we started yesterday, here are some delicious tunes for your day. As always, stay safe, Charlotte!