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RUNNING HEAD: MEASLES OUTBREAK

Measles Outbreak: A Review of Literature

Jocelyne Amaya
University of Texas at El Paso

Abstract
Disneyland, where many children go visit in California, might not be the happiest place
on earth today in 2015. Many young children are getting diagnosed with Measles, which is an
airborne disease. The main cause of this outbreak would be parents who dont vaccinate their
children and are against the vaccination, such as the anti-vaccination movement. Meanwhile the
United States is trying to enforce vaccinations on children, people are against it for a few
reasons. Not only is it affecting California residents, but it is also affecting other states in the
region. And as of today, the United States is currently undergoing a measles epidemic after it was
confirmed that it had been eliminated since the year 2000. The purpose of this literary review is
to explain the measles outbreak with the facts medical professionals provide and on what the
government has to say.

Measles Outbreak: A Review of Literature

In California, the measles outbreak began in December 2014 at the Disneyland theme
park because of the few children who arent vaccinated. This disease is very contagious to
children who arent old enough to receive the vaccine or to anyone who has never gotten it.
Measles is a disease that causes a fever and a skin rash throughout the body with other side
effects. The two doses of the MMR vaccine are said to protect a person from this disease. Also,
there has recently been an anti-vaccination movement where parents believe vaccinations are bad
for children because of the chemicals they contain. Not only that, but tourists that come from
places such as Europe, Africa and Asia, bring it into the United States. (California Department of
Public Health, 2015)
Some states are forcing parents to vaccinate their children, unless its for a medical
reason only. This means many states arent taking religious reasons to be important anymore.
Many people dont think vaccines are safe due to the harsh chemicals but some people believe it
is the best way to not catch and spread a disease. For this reason the debate of whether or not
parents should be forced to vaccinate their children against measles will be answered within the
following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.

What is the current Measles crisis about?

How did the anti-vaccination movement begin?
What is the government doing about it?
Should people be more educated on the Measles disease?

These questions will focus on the purpose of this literature review by providing details and
information about the measles conflict involving not only the vaccine, but the political debate
that it is causing.
What is the current Measles crisis about?

Even after the measles were said to be eliminated in 2000, the disease has made a
comeback. Measles has been a childhood illness for years and theres a vaccine that will prevent
it. The problem is that many parents arent very convinced with the vaccine, they believe it is
dangerous and unnecessary. Meanwhile some children arent vaccinated because of religious or
health reasons, other children are getting sick and it is spreading very quickly! This means that,
in the parlance of the decades before an effective measles vaccine was developed, 2015 might be
called a measles year (Rothman, 2015). Figure 1 shows the other states who have had patients
be diagnosed with measles between the dates December 28 February 6 in the year 2015
Figure 1. CDC graph

Measles, also known as Rubeola, is a

very contagious disease which occurs when
youre young (California Department of
Public Health, 2015). There is a huge
debate concerning the fact that some
parents believe it isnt normal to vaccinate
children with chemicals and they also
think it may cause a connection to autism.
This is mainly concerning to parents with toddlers, which are too young to receive the
vaccination. California is currently experiencing a large outbreak of measles. The outbreak
started in December 2014 when at least 40 people who visited or worked at Disneyland theme
park in Orange County in mid-December contracted measles and has now spread to at least half a
dozen other states (California Department of Public Health, 2015). Everyone believes this
outbreak began because of all the tourists who attend this theme park which some may have

brought the disease from out of the country such as Europe, Asia and Africa and also because of
the anti-vaccination movement.
Many anti-vaccination members believe that vaccines cause Autism, which has been
scientifically proven incorrect. According to the Autism Science Foundation (2015), they have
seen results from many different studies done that conclude that autism and vaccines have no
connection. According to, Vaccines are not associated with Autism: an evidence-based metaanalysis of case-control and cohort studies (Taylor, Swerdfeger, Eslick, 2014) they studied
1,256,407 children and found that there wasnt any connection with the mercury found in
vaccines.

How did the anti-vaccination movement begin?

The anti-vaccine movement includes people who blame the vaccine for Measles for the
cause of Autism in children and also people who are concerned with the mercury in the vaccines.
According to National Geographic (2015), they believe that parents should have a choice to
whether or not their children should be vaccinated because it is an issue of freedom. These antivaxxers concern is mainly surrounded by the idea of chemicals in their childrens bodies which
think may have been the cause for the arise of children diagnosed with autism (Parker, 2015). It
is said that anti-vaccinators are giving diseases a second life by bringing them back, which is
why some people suggest those parents to not send their children to public school which can
affect other children (Parker, 2015)
In many articles such as The New Yorkers Jenny McCarthys Dangerous Views
(Specter, 2013), they bring up how Jenny McCarthy, who is an actress and model, has changed

the views of many people since she is one of the most famous anti-vaccinators. The article also
talks about how she claims that her son was diagnosed with autism because of a vaccine. It
spreads fear and incites the type of ignorance that makes people sick. That is exactly what
McCarthy has been doing. By preaching her message of scientific illiteracy from one end of this
country to the other, she has helped make it possible for people to turn away from rational
thought. And that is deadly (Specter 2013).
Not only is she making people believe vaccines arent safe, she is also convincing parents
who have a child with autism, that vaccines caused it. It wasnt till recently, scientists were able
to prove that it does not lead to autism at all. Many people thought it did, because the rate of
children who were being diagnosed with autism was going at the same rate as the vaccines
children had to get. The idea of vaccines being linked to autism began in 1998 because a doctor
had hypothesized that the measles and mumps vaccine lead to autism. Dr Dennis Flaherty said
that Andrew Wakefields hypothesis was the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years
(Parker, 2013). As of today, the parents involved in the anti-vaccination movement are seen as
the reason for this measles outbreak.
What is the government doing about it?
Measles has currently spread into 14 states and there are no signs of its slowing, with
the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing 102 people are
infected according to US News (Leonard, 2015). Lately the numbers of parents signing these
papers have increased as this debate continues. Another reason for children to avoid getting
vaccinated is for a medical reason, for which you do have to provide proof for.

President Obama has been urging parents to get their children vaccinated and that the
science behind them shouldnt be questionable. The government has very little power which is
why all they can do is encourage and convince parents that by not vaccinating their children,
they can affect their community. By law, some children can be exempt to religious and medical
reasons, but it seems as if theyre trying to stop religious/philosophical reasons from being a
reason. But there has been a recent debate on whether or not parents should have a choice or if
vaccinations should be enforced.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) website, which is government
owned, provides information about the disease and the vaccinations. It brings up when your child
should receive the vaccine and also about the costs of the vaccine. Usually, health insurance will
cover vaccines but theyve created a program for non-insured individuals. The Vaccines For
Children program helps children who are uninsured, Medicaid illegible or American Indian/
Alaska Native. This is one of the few ways that the US Government is trying to help with this
outbreak. (CDC, 2015)
Should people be more educated on the Measles disease?
There are a few people who either dont know much about the disease or they simply
dont care. For many parents, it should be something they know about because it may come
across at the doctors office sooner or later. As this debate continues, it is easy to pick sides even
if you dont know much about it. Theres two sides to the debate, the pro-vaccine and the anti
vaccine. A pro-vaccinator may convince people by saying that vaccines are the safest thing you
can do for your child since it avoids your children from getting a disease. An anti-vaccinator may
convince people by saying that vaccines contain harsh chemicals that may hurt your children.

What would you believe? It is always best to find information, and the most convenient way of
doing that is by people doing their own research online or by asking your primary doctor.

Do you believe it is ok to be exempted from being vaccinated due to religious reasons?

Yes
No
Doesn't matter
4th Qtr

For my Primary Research, I

decided to conduct a survey named El Paso Measles survey and I was hoping to know whether
or not the community around me was concerned about measles. The survey consists of six
unscientific questions that asked whether or not they were vaccinated and if they think it is okay
for people to be exempted from the vaccine. Twenty one people were surveyed and the results
showed that about 80% of the people who took the survey believe everyone should be vaccinated
Figure 2. Results from El Paso Measles
survey by Jocelyne Amaya

in order to feel comfortable at work/school. For another question, the majority answered that no,
it is not ok to be exempt from a vaccine. The research is very limited because it was a few people
out of a large city who took the survey, but it gives an idea of what people know about measles.
(Amaya, 2015)
Conclusion
The Measles Outbreak will be an ongoing debate since it has just begun. According to
this research, we can conclude that the Measles is a very contagious vaccine that happens at a
young age and one way to prevent it is by getting the vaccine. We know the anti-vaccination
campaign exists, and we know their goal is to stop Americans from the dangers of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, medical officials are trying their best to bring proof to the people that the measles
vaccine is healthy and can prevent many diseases. Also, Government officials are between the
debate on whether or not they should enforce vaccines. This Literature Review has information
to answer the research questions about the Measles outbreak in the US.

Reference Page
Amaya, J. (2015, March 4). Measles vaccine. Retrieved from
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/32FCLDN
Burnett, E. (2015, February 2). How did the anti-vaccination movement begin? - CNN
Video. Retrieved
from http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/02/02/erin-dnt-feyerick-origins-antivaccination-movement.cnn
Ellis, R. (2015, January 23). Measles outbreak linked to Disneyland grows - CNN.com.
Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/health/disneyland-measles/
Leonard, K. (2015, February 2). Obama, CDC: Get Your Measles Shots. Retrieved
from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/02/02/obama-cdc-urgevaccinations-to-curb-measles-outbreak
Measles. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Measles.aspx

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Measles. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/measles/basics/symptoms/con-20019675
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http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/outbreak-of-anger-over-antivaccination-movement/story-fnet08xa-1227217268303\

Parker, L. (2015, February 6). The Anti-Vaccine Generation: How Movement Against
Shots Got Its Start.
Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150206measles-vaccine-disney-outbreak-polio-health-science-infocus/
Rothman, L. (2015, February 2). This Isn't the First Time Measles Vaccines Caused a
Controversy.

Retrieved from http://time.com/3692358/measles-vaccine-

history/
Specter, M. (2013, July 15). Jenny McCarthys Dangerous Views - The New Yorker.
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http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/jenny-mccarthys-dangerous-views

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