Dive Brief:
- The comeback of measles, considered eliminated in the U.S. 15 years ago, has gotten lawmakers' attention—particularly since the recent Disneyland outbreak responsible for infecting 131 people in California and 16 people from other states.
- Lawmakers in 12 states are now looking to increase vaccination rates and to limit easy "personal belief" exemptions, typically leveraged by parents who fear a connection to autism. That belief has been further debunked by a study published this Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
- There are only two states that currently do not have laws that allow parents to opt out of school vaccination requirements for either religious or personal reasons: Mississippi and West Virginia.
Dive Insight:
The progress of California's legislation may serve as a model given the state's role in the Disneyland outbreak that had nationwide ramifications.
The bill, SB 277, went through the state's health and education committees, and is now set for review by the judiciary committee. It has been amended to exclude children from the requirements if they are home-schooled or using a school district-sponsored independent study program. Those watching the legislation expect to see additional amendments tacked on as lawmakers struggle to reconcile concerns of parental rights and public health.
Notably, Sen. Marty Block told the media that he was persuaded to support the legislation after seeing the University of Pittsburgh's FRED Measles Epidemic Simulator, an educational tool designed to show how outbreaks spread in cities with different vaccination rates.