MN measles outbreak traced to single child in Somali community fearful of vaccine myth

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics identified Patient Zero in the new measles epidemic as a 30-month-old child from Minnesota who had recently traveled to Kenya.

The unvaccinated child of Somali descent lived within an immigrant community in Minneapolis that had a low rate for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination, and contracted the disease while overseas. The child presented few symptoms of the disease upon reentering the United States, and proceeded to spread the infection to one member of the household and three children in a day-care center.

By the time the infant was diagnosed, over 3,000 people were exposed to the disease — most of them in the Somali subpopulation, where the vaccination rate had dropped from 91 percent in 2004 to 54 percent in 2010. Of the 21 cases in which an exposed individual presented with symptoms, 16 of them were not vaccinated.

Now I know what some may say, what about the other five, those that where vaccinated? Why did they present with symptoms (and notice it said symptoms) ? Doesn't that mean that vaccines don't work?

Here is how I understand it,,,

No vaccine is 100 per cent effective and vaccines are not an impenetrable force field. While it is still POSSIBLE to get the disease you’ve been vaccinated against, the disease severity and duration will be reduced. In other words fewer complications.

And this is where the concept of herd immunity comes into play, a level of vaccination that prevents epidemics or outbreaks from taking hold and spreading. ",,,[M]ost of them in the Somali subpopulation, where the vaccination rate had dropped from 91 percent in 2004 to 54 percent in 2010." That is an example of the breakdown of herd immunity.

Vaccination is not just a personal issue; it’s a community responsibility.

MN measles outbreak traced to single child in Somali community fearful of vaccine myth