Will a measles outbreak persuade more parents to vaccinate their children?
That’s the question people are asking as concern grows about the outbreak linked to Disneyland that has spread to 67 cases across seven states.
Some doctors have expressed hope that parents will be more likely to get their children immunized. I hope they’re right, but research suggests that the long-term effects of the outbreak could be worse, not better. The social and political conflicts we’ve seen emerge over the outbreak threaten to polarize the issue along political lines and weaken the social consensus in favor of vaccination.