What price did Minnesota pay for listening to anti-vaccination rumors?

The British "International Financial Times" reported on the 3rd that the most serious measles epidemic in the past 30 years has recently occurred in Minnesota, USA. The latest data shows that there are currently 73 confirmed measles cases in the state, which has exceeded the level of 70 confirmed measles cases nationwide in the United States in 2016.

The most severely affected group in Minnesota is the Somali immigrant community near Minneapolis, where 21 children were hospitalized with measles. Health officials believe that rumors circulating in the United States about the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine) are the main cause of the measles outbreak.

The rumor claims that injection of MMR vaccine will cause autism. In 1998, British scientist Wakefield first proposed the idea of ??a link between MMR vaccination and autism in the authoritative magazine "The Lancet", triggering panic among the British people. Their confidence in the relevant vaccine increased from 59% to 59%. dropped to 41%. However, the British "Sunday Telegraph" revealed that Wakefield had actually manipulated experimental data and received money from people who tried to prove that the vaccine was unsafe.

This anti-vaccination propaganda has been widespread among Somali immigrant communities for some time. Data show that between 2004 and 2014, the vaccination rate among Somalis dropped by 45%. One doctor of Somali origin called the anti-vaccination propaganda "absolutely hateful." Measles is highly contagious and can be spread to others through coughing and sneezing. The measles virus can cause pneumonia and even death. The doctor said that large-scale community activities provide a good opportunity for measles to spread further. Local health officials remind people infected with measles not to attend community gatherings to avoid further infection.