Health officials in Florida are encouraging people to get their vaccines due to a measles outbreak.
During her press conference on Tuesday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz demanded that Gov. Ron DeSantis fire state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. Ladapo had written a letter to parents on Friday advising them to make decisions about school attendance in light of the outbreak.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups are expressing their disapproval of doctors in Florida and nationwide who choose to defer to parents who choose not to vaccinate their children.
Officials from the Florida Department of Health verified yet another case of measles in Broward County on Tuesday, raising the county’s total to nine cases. Seven of those incidents occurred at Weston’s Manatee Bay Elementary.
Polk County has also recorded one case of measles.
According to Dr. Rana Alissa, the Florida vice president of the academy, the state should follow the CDC recommendations for the safety of children.
She told The Associated Press that letting unvaccinated kids go to school during the outbreak puts everyone at risk, particularly those with weak immune systems.
The doctor pointed out that people with a previous infection or who have received the complete series of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines are 98% protected against the extremely dangerous virus.
Measles is 90% contagious in people without immunity.
Approximately thirty percent of Manatee Bay Elementary School’s student body is unvaccinated.
In the United States, 53 instances were reported last year from 20 states.
According to the State Department of Health, two measles cases have been confirmed in New York City. Authorities have stated that the two incidents are unrelated despite involving foreign travel.
In 2019, the United States recorded almost 1,300 measles cases across 31 states.
People who had not received the vaccine constituted the bulk of the cases.
The Empire State saw the most significant number of cases since 1992, making it one of the hardest afflicted states.
