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News feature: A shot of fear

Nature Medicine volume 12, pages 1228–1229 (2006)Cite this article

Spooked by reports that vaccines might cause diseases such as autism, many parents choose not to vaccinate their kids. But when their decision endangers others, asks Virginia Hughes, should the government step in?

While visiting a Romanian orphanage, the girl unknowingly picked up measles. On 16 May, with only a few cold-like symptoms, she went to a church gathering of 500, of whom about 50 were also unvaccinated. That same day, 16 of them got measles. Within six weeks, the toll had risen to 34. The incident was the largest documented measles outbreak in the US in a decade, and cost $167,685 (N. Engl. J. Med. 355, 447–455; 2006).

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  1. Virginia Hughes is a freelance writer based in New York.

    • Virginia Hughes
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Hughes, V. News feature: A shot of fear. Nat Med 12, 1228–1229 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1106-1228

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