“Amid Measles Outbreak, Texas Lawmakers Want to Make it Even Easier to Opt Out of Vaccines : A new bill would ban the Texas health department from tracking vaccine exemptions — a move medical experts say would curb their ability to identify outbreaks. (Texas Observer 2/26/19) https://www.texasobserver.org/amid-measles-outbreak-texas-lawmakers-want-to-make-it-even-easier-to-opt-out-of-vaccines/
“Some lawmakers in Texas are apparently very unworried about the growing number of epidemics across the country involving diseases once nearly eradicated by vaccines, including a five-county one in their state. A few of them are even pushing a bill that would make it even easier to opt out of vaccinations, the Texas Observer reported Tuesday, with one of claiming that people can always just get “antibiotics.” (Gizmodo) https://gizmodo.com/texas-lawmaker-completely-unconcerned-about-measles-epi-1832919951 …”Measles is a virus. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections. There is no prescription medication to treat measles, which Healthline notes can weaken the immune system and invite everything from ear infections to potentially lethal pneumonia. It can also spread to the brain, causing encephalitis. But one can prevent contracting said virus by getting the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which the CDC says is 97 percent effective with the recommended two doses.” [see links]
“Why Measles Is a Quintessential Political Issue of Our Time” (The New Yorker 3/2/19) https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-measles-is-a-quintessential-political-issue-of-our-time
Amazon asked to explain why it promotes vaccine misinformation (The Verge 3/1/19) https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/1/18246461/amazon-anti-vaccination-vaxx-books-films-vaccines-media-schiff-letter [“…Amazon has been moving into the health space with a joint healthcare venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase and its purchase of online pharmacy PillPack. Yet when it comes to the algorithm that serves up search results about vaccinations for the retail arm of the company, Amazon has nothing to say on the record. Instead, Amazon suggested The Verge might find its content guidelines helpful: “As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable. That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content, such as pornography or other inappropriate content.”]
“Don’t try to reason with vaccine-skeptic parents. Scare them: Anti-vaxxers fight information with anecdote and, unfortunately, it works. So let’s hijack their method.” (Robyn Urback · CBC News opinion 3/4/19) https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/vaccine-outbreak-1.5040997
Eideard 
“Amid Measles Outbreak, Texas Lawmakers Want to Make it Even Easier to Opt Out of Vaccines : A new bill would ban the Texas health department from tracking vaccine exemptions — a move medical experts say would curb their ability to identify outbreaks. (Texas Observer 2/26/19) https://www.texasobserver.org/amid-measles-outbreak-texas-lawmakers-want-to-make-it-even-easier-to-opt-out-of-vaccines/
“Some lawmakers in Texas are apparently very unworried about the growing number of epidemics across the country involving diseases once nearly eradicated by vaccines, including a five-county one in their state. A few of them are even pushing a bill that would make it even easier to opt out of vaccinations, the Texas Observer reported Tuesday, with one of claiming that people can always just get “antibiotics.” (Gizmodo) https://gizmodo.com/texas-lawmaker-completely-unconcerned-about-measles-epi-1832919951 …”Measles is a virus. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections. There is no prescription medication to treat measles, which Healthline notes can weaken the immune system and invite everything from ear infections to potentially lethal pneumonia. It can also spread to the brain, causing encephalitis. But one can prevent contracting said virus by getting the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which the CDC says is 97 percent effective with the recommended two doses.” [see links]
Mandatory vaccinations are ‘Communist’ https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2019/02/28/state-rep-kelly-townsend-says-mandatory-vaccinations-communist/3018342002/ Signing her Facebook post, “live free or die,” Arizona state Rep. Kelly Townsend went on Facebook Thursday to decry mandatory vaccinations as a communist idea.
One day after Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said he was “pro-vaccination,” Townsend, a Mesa Republican, wrote that she’d heard about proposals to “force” people in Arizona to be vaccinated.
“The idea that we force someone to give up their liberty for the sake of the collective is not based on American values but rather, Communist (sic),” she wrote.
Disregarding warnings from health officials, the state House Health and Human Services Committee last week endorsed three bills that could lead to lower immunization coverage among Arizona’s schoolchildren. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2019/02/22/disregarding-warnings-arizona-lawmakers-move-forward-vaccine-exemptions/2942680002/
“Anti-Vaxxers Are Cozying Up to the Far Right Online : They’re anti-science and conspiratorial. Together, they’re building a right-wing populist, measle-stricken future.” (Daily Beast 3/1/19) https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-vaxxers-are-cozying-up-to-the-far-right-online
“Unvaccinated traveler may have exposed thousands of people to measles at Chicago airport” (AP 3/1/19) https://fox59.com/2019/03/01/unvaccinated-traveler-may-have-exposed-thousands-of-people-to-measles-at-chicago-airport/
“Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate” (American Journal of Public Health October 2018) https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304567
“Why Measles Is a Quintessential Political Issue of Our Time” (The New Yorker 3/2/19) https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-measles-is-a-quintessential-political-issue-of-our-time
Amazon asked to explain why it promotes vaccine misinformation (The Verge 3/1/19) https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/1/18246461/amazon-anti-vaccination-vaxx-books-films-vaccines-media-schiff-letter [“…Amazon has been moving into the health space with a joint healthcare venture with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase and its purchase of online pharmacy PillPack. Yet when it comes to the algorithm that serves up search results about vaccinations for the retail arm of the company, Amazon has nothing to say on the record. Instead, Amazon suggested The Verge might find its content guidelines helpful: “As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable. That said, we reserve the right not to sell certain content, such as pornography or other inappropriate content.”]
“Don’t try to reason with vaccine-skeptic parents. Scare them: Anti-vaxxers fight information with anecdote and, unfortunately, it works. So let’s hijack their method.” (Robyn Urback · CBC News opinion 3/4/19) https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/vaccine-outbreak-1.5040997