• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Sci-tech

Camps harden vaccine rules in US measles outbreak

25 May 2019, 1:35 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
They attribute the ongoing outbreak to a campaign of misinformation about the vaccine among a vocal fringe of parents who believe it may cause autism

They attribute the ongoing outbreak to a campaign of misinformation about the vaccine among a vocal fringe of parents who believe it may cause autism

Image: AFP

They attribute the ongoing outbreak to a campaign of misinformation about the vaccine among a vocal fringe of parents who believe it may cause autism

As the United States battles its worst measles outbreak in 25 years, summer camps are tightening their policies on vaccines, with some prepared to turn away children whose parents opted not to vaccinate them against the disease.

With more than 10 million American children attending summer day and overnight camps, camp owners and industry associations said they are urging parents to follow medical experts’ advice to prevent their camps from becoming transmission sites for the highly contagious and sometimes deadly illness.

Scott Rosmarin, whose family has operated Rosmarins Day Camp in Monroe, New York, for three generations, said he has already sent past camp families a letter warning that he will turn away longtime campers if their parents cite religious or philosophical objections to the vaccine.

“I used to accept kids if they had a religious exemption but now I’m not,” Rosmarin said in a phone interview from his camp in the Hudson Valley, about 80 km north of New York City. “If I lose a couple kids, I lose a couple kids …You’ve got to do what’s right.”

Rosmarin has particular reason to be concerned. New York State accounts for the majority of the almost 900 new measles cases reported in the United States this year, with outbreaks concentrated in the Brooklyn borough of New York City and Rockland County, north of the city.

Health experts have called the rapid spread of the disease, which hit a 25th U.S. state with a confirmed case in Maine this week, “completely avoidable.”

They attribute the ongoing outbreak to a campaign of misinformation about the vaccine among a vocal fringe of parents who believe it may cause autism, although medical science has debunked this concern.

The New York State Department of Health sent out a warning about the virus last month to the approximately 2 550 licensed summer camps in the state. The letter, seen by Reuters, emphasized that the department “strongly recommended” anyone working at or attending summer camps get the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which confers immunity to the disease.

Health officials in the six other states where the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring active outbreaks told Reuters they have not taken similar steps.

But camps across the country have sought counsel from their local health departments as they prepare to take the necessary steps to prevent the disease from spreading, said Kelley Freridge, a spokesperson for the American Camp Association.

Share article
Tags: United StatesMeaslesSummer camps
Previous Post

Ramaphosa’s speech was a good omen: Analyst

Next Post

Australia’s Warner and Smith booed against England

Related Posts

Sebokeng floods

KZN Shark Board bans bathing at beaches amid cyclone Cheneso

28 January 2023, 12:25 PM
[File photo] Cataracts eye surgery.

Cataract screenings for Touws River residents

28 January 2023, 9:59 AM
The logo of the US Central Intelligence Agency is shown in the lobby of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Russia blocks CIA, FBI websites for ‘spreading false information’: TASS

27 January 2023, 7:23 PM
People work at the site after the announcement of the discovery of 4 300-year-old sealed tombs in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, in Giza, Egypt, January 26, 2023.

Archaeologist hails possibly ‘oldest’ mummy yet found in Egypt

27 January 2023, 3:06 PM
A boy plays with water on a hot summer day.

These groups are the most vulnerable to suffer effects of heat wave

27 January 2023, 11:17 AM

LIVE: 3D Construction Printing Housing Project launch

27 January 2023, 11:00 AM
Next Post
David Warner and Steve Smith

Australia's Warner and Smith booed against England

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Northern Cape’s Kakamas to be exempted from blackouts
  • Scorcher predicted in Northern Cape for two weeks
  • Chances of reaching Stage 8 blackouts are receding: Eskom
  • Residents shut down Komani over power woes
  • Eswatini human rights lawyer gunned down in the presence of his family
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Babes Wodumo breaks her silence at Mampintsha’s funeral
  • Mahlengi Bhengu replaces Pule Mabe as ANC chief spokesperson
  • VIDEO | Government has no concrete plan to deal with load shedding: Malema
  • Malema calls on South Africans to reject Just Energy Transition
  • EFF cuts ties with IFP in KwaZulu-Natal
  • Ramaphosa to announce an energy emergency package

LATEST

Aerial view of where the devastating gas tanker explosion took place in Boksburg on Saturday, 24 December 2022
  • South Africa

Gas leak shut, isolated at the Rosslyn industrial area


[FILE IMAGE] Sewage spillage seen running down a stream.
  • South Africa

East London residents up in arms over sewage spill in the area


Cast member Andrea Riseborough arrives at the premiere for 'Matilda the Musical' in London, Britain, November 21, 2022.
  • Lifestyle

Film academy reviewing Oscar campaigns after surprise nomination


Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
  • Africa

Italy’s Meloni in Libya to conclude $8 billion gas deal


A tap with a droplet of water.
  • South Africa

Tap in parts of Tshwane run dry as reservoirs levels continue to decline


Springboks sevens
  • Sport
  • Rugby

Blitzboks advance to semis of the Sydney Sevens


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Political analyst Professor Tinyiko Maluleke Ramaphosa’s speech was a good omen: Analyst
Next David Warner and Steve Smith Australia’s Warner and Smith booed against England