The Orthodox Jewish community in New York is fighting the onset of measles. Vaccine deniers will blame.

Anti – vaccine advocates have refused to vaccinate children in New York 's parents and recent health officials have triggered two of the largest measles outbreaks in recent weeks.

As of Thursday, 17 people in New York City's Williamsburg and Borough Park areas were confirmed as measles, and 53 people in nearby Rockland County identified 70 cases. Additional cases are currently under investigation and are expected to increase in number.

What is noteworthy here is that Orthodox Jews who are not vaccinated or not vaccinated, mainly some of the members of the community, are experiencing all cases among children whose parents are the target of vaccination.

fearmongerers include misleading information about vaccine safety through hotlines and magazines, citing rabbis as authorities, parental education and advocacy groups for the education of children or the Brooklyn Group called peaches. The Brooklyn Orthodox rabbi William Handler is also reporting a link between measles-Wolfsbad-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Parents who are pleased with the "god of vaccination" are engaged in "child sacrifice," he told Vox.

I have spoken to the orthodox Jews of New York over the past few days about the onset of leukemia and vaccination. And I realized that the minority is distrustful of the vaccine because it has nothing to do with the religious doctrine.

However, some Orthodox Jews may be particularly vulnerable to anti – boxers by living outside the mainstream, avoiding technology, and respecting rabbinical opinions.

Alexander Rapaport, CEO of the Masbia Soup Kitchen Network in Brooklyn, said: "Because you're a religious Jew, you get used to a few perspectives." If something is not mainstream, you will not believe it. "

He also explained that some orthodox Jews in Brooklyn go to school together, worship together, live together and travel. This means that few people who live close together can be at risk. However, it means that additional efforts are needed to enter public health messages. A spokesman for LaPorte said the government is investing a lot of money in public health awareness. "But it never flows to people who do not own Yiddish speakers or TVs."

The story of New York is familiar. Other dense communities, such as the Somalian-American community in Minnesota and Amish in Ohio, have recently become victims of measles outbreaks as a result of rejection of vaccines. Thus, recent outbreaks remind us of the vulnerability of more collective groups to anti-vaxxers, and public health advocates remind us of the unique challenges to this message in this community.

Measles was removed in the United States in 2000, but the outbreaks associated with vaccine rejection are occurring in the island community

There is one fact that actually makes measles virus afraid. It is one of the most infectious diseases known to man. People with measles can cough in the room and leave, and if they are vaccinated several hours later, they can catch the virus from a neglected air bubble. No other virus can do that.

It is very easy to catch measles if you do not vaccinate. In an unimmunized population, 12-18 people can be infected with a measles person. It is much higher than other viruses such as Ebola, HIV or Sars.

By 2000, the virus was declared to have been eliminated in the United States due to extensive immunization. It is said that enough people have been vaccinated because there are few cases of measles and few measles deaths.

However, for a vaccine to be effective, a certain percentage of the vaccinated population must be vaccinated. It is known as "herd immunity", which means that the disease can not spread easily through the population. In the case of MMR vaccines, 95% of people should be injected. Only a handful of people who refuse vaccination can be at risk.

Javier Zarashina / Vox

Since 2000, we have seen 37-667 outbreaks each year in a group with low levels of vaccine intake. The virus spreads when uninvited travelers visit places where measles is widespread and are brought to an unvaccinated vaccine from an intimate community where some parents refuse to vaccinate their children.

It happened in two of the largest recent measles outbreaks in the United States since the disease was removed. After the missionary regained his virus in the Philippines in 2014, the measles spread to the unvaccinated Ammanites in Ohio. In 2017, travelers triggered an outbreak in a Somalian American community that was not vaccinated in Minnesota.

In New York, a recent visit to Israel, where a recent measles outbreak is taking place, has also occurred. Travelers returned to the United States and spread the vaccine to uninvited or unvaccinated New Yorkers.

But this is not an isolated incident. The Orthodox Jewish community is already facing a number of outbreaks. Recent preventable diseases, including pertussis immunization and mumps. In recent years, 58 measles outbreaks by 2013 have been the largest cities in almost a decade since 1992, when measles disappeared, and $ 400,000 in cities.

Why parents are not immunized in New York

Most of the people I've talked about about this story were not concerned about the safety of the vaccine and were happy to vaccinate the family. The majority of opinion is that there is no religious reason to avoid the vaccine.

Rabbi David Niederman, governor and representative of the Williamsburg Jewish organization, said, "You should be vaccinated from a religious perspective. Instead, people have a duty to protect their families and the most vulnerable." You have to do what you can to do anything. [avoid] That."

But controversy over avoiding the authority and harm of rabbis is being used by vaccinees as a means of disseminating false information.

Consider the story of Rachel, an orthodox Jew in Brooklyn. When her eldest son was 18 months old, she brought her baby to the doctor of the MMR vaccine. Shortly thereafter, the girl had to go up to 106 and eventually stay in the hospital.

"The doctor said there was no correlation with the vaccine," recalled a 7-year-old mother between the ages of 11 and 15. But Rachel was skeptical. After that, she found that her daughter was always sick. "Ear infection, virus. I lived in the doctor's office." She thought the vaccine was the killer.

So she read the scene of the peach pamphlet and watched the vaccination record movie. VaxxedI talked with her neighbors in her Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish community.

"Rabbis who do not think it is the right prescription for the vaccine maintain a low profile," he said.

She read and listened to her concern. The ingredients of the vaccine seemed unsafe or unhealthy, and the children heard rumors of neighbors with autism immediately after launch. (Over the past half-century, thousands of people have reported that vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective.)

So over the years Rachel has been vaccinating children less and less. Two of her youngest children received no vaccination.

Recently, my mom, who is staying home while she is bringing her child to school and changing diapers, hosts the library at home. At home, parents can borrow books about vaccines and discuss what they read and read. The library contains both the antivirus and vaccine white papers. "People can read and decide for themselves."

Her library is being advertised as an anti-vaccine for the Rachel community. She is part of an ethnic minority who has recently resisted the vaccine. This triggered two of the largest measles outbreaks in US history in recent years.

"It was very difficult to persuade my parents"

peach

Some of Rachel's concerns are reflected in a vaccine safety handbook produced in Brooklyn by a group called Peach. Or parent education and advocacy for children's education. (The group refused to interview this story.) This book says, "You can vaccinate anytime later." To avoid risking life or health, including the risk of vaccines, the rabbis Incorrect information about the vaccine, including misinformation about autism as well as advice, can be obtained.

Vaccine Another source of misinformation is Rabbi William Handler, who believes that vaccines can cause autism and share with parents. "I think the public health authorities [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] I am not interested in children. "The best way to avoid potential harm is to avoid immunization."[Parents] I do not want to play Russian roulettes with children. It is like a young sacrifice. "

Although large-scale studies involving thousands of participants from different countries have not found a link between MMR vaccines and mental developmental disabilities, autism is common in New York City health authorities.

"Unfortunately, concerns remain about whether there is a link. [because of] There was incorrect information and it was very difficult to persuade the parents. "New York City Immunization Director Jane Zucker told Vox," We tell them they want to wait till their child is older so they know the child does not have autism and give him a vaccine. "

Difficulty in responding to vaccine vaccinations in isolated communities

In New York State, parents refuse vaccination. Although there are philosophical reasons, parents can be exempted from health and religious reasons. If your child is approaching school, you should provide proof that your child has been immunized if you have not been exempted.

Professor Zucker says the vaccine levels in New York City's Jewish schools are on average, but religious schools say there are more religious exemptions than non-religious schools. There is a problem in Williamsburg before the children go to school. It is one of the lowest vaccination rates among children aged 19 to 35 months.

Zucker did not think children infected with measles were too young to enter school. According to the Department of City Health, cases of measles in Williamsburg and Borough Park are about children aged 7 months to 4 years. (Rockland refused to provide details about the affected people.

This means that there is a group of children vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases that can not be covered by the State Vaccine Act.

"When kids go into school, they can get a good vaccine intake," Zucker said. "It's a delay, but it's related to this outbreak."

However, it is not easy to reach out to parents who are reluctant to vaccine. The Public Health Department sent notices and services to schools and hospitals with large Orthodox Jewish populations, and posted advertising and distributed posters in Orthodox newspapers in Yiddish and English.

Public health officials must intervene before the outbreak begins.

But they need to work harder. Community leaders intervened before the outbreak began.

"Said Rabbi Avi Greenstein, secretary general of the Boro Park Jewish Community Committee, one of the affected regions," We have language barriers and cultural barriers. " [our community]. "

After the outbreak, a poster about the importance of Public Health's vaccine appears in the Community Center and nearby areas. Alexander Rapaport, CEO of Masbia Soup Kitchen, said: But "the poster of the city is reactionary," he added. It is not enough to educate people ahead of the onset.

Javier Zarashina / Vox

According to the latest data from the New York City Department of Health, the intake of MMR vaccine has increased rapidly among children in Williamsburg since the onset of the disease.

Maybe it's an opportunity to change people's views. "It is becoming clearer that people are taking positions. [not to vaccinate]They are irresponsible and irresponsible parents, "Greenstein repeated." This is a challenge for the community. "

* We did not use Rachel's real name. Because she was concerned about privacy and objection to her views.