Anti-vaccination stronghold in N.C. hit with stat

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Anti-vaccination stronghold in N.C. hit with state's worst chickenpox outbreak in 2 decades

Source: Washington Post

Chickenpox has taken hold of a school in North Carolina where many families claim religious exemption from vaccines. Cases of chickenpox have been multiplying at the Asheville Waldorf School, which serves children from nursery school to sixth grade in Asheville, N.C. About a dozen infections grew to 28 at the beginning of the month. By Friday, there were 36.

The flare-up demonstrates the real-life consequences of a shadowy debate fueled by junk science and fomented by the same sort of Twitter bots and trolls that spread misinformation during the 2016 presidential election.

Not all parents seemed to grasp the gravity of the outbreak. Nor does everyone see the rationale behind vaccines, which some believe — contrary to scientific evidence — cause more severe health issues than they’re meant to cure. The claim of an autism risk, though it has been debunked, has remained a rallying cry of the anti-vaccine movement.


The chickenpox vaccine became available more than 20 years ago. Since then, the two-dose course has succeeded in limiting the highly contagious disease that once affected 90 percent of Americans — a public health breakthrough.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11...4f39f61d5e

2. Kids: "Thanks for ensuring we will get shingles when we are 60-ish!!!"

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