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Sharfaa Ahmad
Professor Sosa
HSCI 271
20 April 2015
MMR Vaccine
Measles was one of many deadly diseases worldwide. Efforts to reduce the incidence of
measles began in the 1960s. However, the first state to require vaccination by law is the state of
Massachusetts in the attempt to eradicate smallpox. This was in the year of 1855. There was no
problem with it constitutionally because the power is given to the state. Court did not let people
get exempt because of personal belief/choice, due to public health and safety. By the 1970s,
some states had regulations regarding school children being vaccinated and those states had
reduced their incidence rates by 40-51%. Due to this successful reduction of the measles
outbreak, by 1981 all fifty states required children of all grade levels to be vaccinated. Children
and adults were required to be vaccinated with two doses with at least a 28-day gap between the
first and second dose. Infants are to be vaccinated with one dose from 6-11 months of age and
get the second dose between the ages of 12-15 months. Vaccines are not proven to be 100%
effective but are been shown to reduce the risk substantially. With both doses of the MMR
vaccine the risk of contraction is decreased by 97%. Through these strict laws, measles was
officially eradicated as of the year 2000. This is not the first success that vaccines are responsible
for. Small pox and polioviruses are eliminated in large parts of the world including the United
States. The number of cases since 2004 ranged from 37 and 668 in 2014, which, was said to be
linked to people who visited from out of the country (Center for Disease Control).

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The recent measles outbreak in Disneyland raised a lot of questions to why people had
not vaccinated their children. Quite a few groups of people around California refused to
vaccinate their kids because of personal beliefs and consequently those children were at the
highest risk to contract the disease. Cities in the wealthy coasts of California such as Malibu,
Orange County and San Diego seem to have larger groups of people who refused to vaccinate
their kids and consequently were the bigger targets of the measles outbreak. Unvaccinated people
were the minority in this case, in most cases this would not cause a problem because the vast
majority is safe so less people are likely to contract the disease anyways, however the virus can
always originate from a foreign source and thats when the unvaccinated people are at risk,
which is what happened in this case. There was a large amount of unvaccinated people in the
area hence why the incidence rate is so high for this case. The trend was that the higher income
areas were higher in vaccine opposition and the low-income areas like Silicon Valley, were low
in vaccine opposition (Washington Post).
For some time it was also believed that autism had something to do with vaccines. About
the time autism presents in children is around the time they receive their booster shot for
measles/mumps/rubella, hence why most parents made that assumption. CDC did a study that
was said to confirm there was no link between autism and vaccines. There were about 1800
developmentally healthy participants in the study and they were compared to 624 children with
autism. Both groups were vaccinated according to the recommendations and there was no link
between the vaccine and autism. It was also found that no particular racial group was at risk
either. Later it was said there was a possibility that the number of participants were deliberately
limited to produce certain results. The accuracy of the results and reporting of the results were
questioned. More research was conducted to put that controversy to rest. With many more

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studies conducted it was concluded that vaccines are not in fact the cause of autism and it autism
develops while the child is still in the womb which was way before a vaccine of any sort is given
(CNN).

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Works Cited

Goldschmidt, Debra. "Autism and Vaccine Study Results Questioned - CNN.com." CNN. Cable
News Network, 28 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Ingraham, Christopher. "Californias Epidemic of Vaccine Denial, Mapped." Washington Post.
The Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Malone, Kevin M., and Alan R. Hinman. "Vaccination Mandates: The Public Health Imperative
and Individual Rights." Chapter 13 - Vaccination Mandates: The Public Health
Imperative and Individual Rights - (n.d.): n. pag. CDC. CDC. Web.
"Measles Vaccination." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 07 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.