Residents of Washington state: Brace yourselves. Public health officials have warned that the state is on track for the worst epidemic of pertussis, or whooping cough, since the 1940s. So far this year, over 1,100 cases of the disease have been confirmed, and 20 infants have been hospitalized. We re seeing 100 to 125 new cases every week, says Tim Church, a spokesman for the state Health Department, who also predicts that Washington will end the year with about 3,000 whooping cough cases total.
Many may recall that California was also hit with a pertussis epidemic in 2010 that resulted in 10 infant deaths and over 9,000 diagnoses.
Is it any coincidence, then, that such outbreaks are occurring in states that allow for so-called philosophical vaccine exemptions? We think not. Currently, 6 percent of school-aged children are exempted from vaccines in Washington something ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan labels unconscionable. This epidemic should never have occurred, she says. Despite the evidence-based science behind the efficacy of vaccines, certain states still allow for philosophical exemptions, and these outbreaks will continue to occur and needlessly claim lives until these exemptions are eliminated.
Adds ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, These exemptions, based on nothing more than superstitious parental fears of vaccines trumped up by attention-seeking demagogues, harm not only the exempted kids but their classmates too. Why this bizarre unscientific and dangerous free pass is allowed in the 21st century is inexplicable; philosophical exemptions need to be abolished in those states still tolerating the practice.