It has been exactly a year since USDemocrazy published this article on the uptick of infectious diseases in the United States.

It looks like things remain unhappy… even The Happiest Place on Earth has been afffected.

That’s right- those pesky diseases have made their way to Disneyland. A recent measles outbreak in Disneyland has already affected more than 70 people in seven states and Mexico. All of these cases can be traced to Patient Zero.

The even more confounding issue is that the United States eliminated measles 15 years ago. What happened?

Well, add together a vulnerable population, an unvaccinated world-traveler, and one infectious disease and you have got a recipe for an outbreak. An outbreak in 2014 was brought from the Philippines.  And if you really want to know what the big deal is- you can read the list of symptoms from the highly contagious disease here.

Central to the issue is vaccines. While the measles vaccine has proven to be safe, many families are opting out due to a plethora of reasons.

People are now asking- should the government step in? Should they allow religious or philosophical exemptions? How easy should it be to forgo vaccination? In some states, it is as simple as checking a box. 

As a possible model to the nation, Mississippi is enjoying their measles-free state with a kindergarten vaccination rate of 99.7%. As Mary Currier, a state health officer in Mississippi so nicely put it, 

“It’s nice not having measles in Mississippi”.

And Mississippi has a reason to brag. They have a successful public health campaign and strict vaccination laws. Regardless, it seems like this issue will not be resolved soon. We here at USDemocrazy hope that we will not have to revisit this again in a year’s time.  Stay tuned.