A new study confirms low vaccination rates are likely to blame for the Disneyland measles outbreak that has infected more than 170 people.
A study published Monday found that between roughly 50 to 86 percent of people exposed to the contagious disease were not vaccinated. Since measles is highly contagious, vaccination rates of 95 to 99 percent are needed to achieve herd immunity to prevent outbreaks, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Disneyland outbreak started in December and as of March 13 has infected 176 people from 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The outbreak, and the speculation that low vaccination rates were the cause, brought new attention on “anti-vaxxer” parents that refuse to vaccinate their children because of concerns they will develop a health disorder like autism.
The researchers — who are from MIT, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School — looked at existing data on the outbreak and compared it to a formula that estimated the rate of vaccination.
