What Happens When You Tell Immigrant Communities Vaccines Cause Autism?

If there is one movement I know we can get bipartisan support in trying to destroy completely and utterly, it’s the anti-vaccine movement. They are little more than a cult that can cause irreparable harm to society. Just look at Minnesota.

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Currently facing the largest measles outbreak in 30 years, the people of Minnesota are the latest victims of the anti-vaxx movement. Why? Because that movement went and convinced members of a Somali immigrant community that vaccines cause autism.

All but two cases happened in people who were not vaccinated, and nearly all were in the immigrant community in Hennepin County, a densely populated county that is home to Minneapolis and its suburbs.

“The outbreak started among Somali Minnesotans who have a low vaccination rate for M.M.R.,” he said, referring to the shot for measles, mumps, rubella.

He said the community was “targeted” by members of the anti-vaccination movement, adding that vaccination rates in the community had been as high or even higher than those in the white population, but that began to change in 2008.

Measles in an incredibly infectious and dangerous disease, transferable via droplets in the air (coming from the coughs and sneezes of the infected) and able to linger in the area. The result of not vaccinating their children is an outbreak of the disease in their community.

Members of the community came to believe incorrectly that they had an unusually high rate of autism and that the cases were related to vaccines. But later studies showed that their autism rates were not out of line with those of the state’s white population, he said.

Mohamud Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, said anti-vaccine activists had met one-on-one with families and had been more aggressive than public health educators in getting their message out.

Though the medical research has debunked the connection of vaccines to autism, the notion is deeply rooted in the community, Mr. Noor said on Friday, adding that the “main fight” was combating that perception.

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The fear caused by the autism scare is so strong, a Washington Post article claimed, that some Somali immigrant families seem to prefer measles over the autism. One person who spoke to those families told the post he doesn’t feel responsible for the outbreak at all.

Any and all research that tries to claim there is a connection between vaccines and autism has been debunked. But, that hasn’t stopped these charlatans from going out and telling people their kids will become autistic if you vaccinate them.

Now, there is a measles outbreak in America. Because of this ridiculous, anti-science movement. How many kids will get sick and die because of these people?

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