The Washington State House just passed a bill eliminating philosophical or personal exemptions from the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. The bill is attempting to remove these exemptions and make the vaccination completely mandatory for all school children.  The lower chamber approved the measure in a 57-40 vote, according to The Associated Press. The bill will now head to the state Senate, which is expected to vote on a broader measure related to vaccines in the next week.

The Seattle Times reports that the vote "comes in in the midst of an outbreak that has sickened at least 71 people, mostly children age 10 and younger."

The measure is sponsored by a lawmaker from that region, Republican Rep. Paul Harris of Vancouver, who said that the measure "will make our communities safer." There were, of course, representatives opposed to this like Republican Rep. Norma Smith of Clinton, who said that most of the communication she's gotten from voters in her district was in opposition to the bill. She urged that it's important to "recognize that this is a complex issue and that we need to respect the decisions made by families. For us to take an action which doesn't allow them to have a voice, I believe is wrong."

What nobody is acknowledging is the fact that these outbreaks are happening in highly vaccinated populations. Vaccination coverage of MMR has not dropped, so why is the media saying that parents aren't vaccinating and therefore measles is making a comeback? Washington State has a very high vaccination coverage for MRR.  See for yourself, here.

Furthermore, the mainstream never seems to acknowledge the fact that measles outbreaks have occurred in heavily vaccinated populations throughout history. For example, a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases – whose authorship includes scientists working for the Bureau of Immunization, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA – looked at evidence from the 2011 New York measles outbreak, which showed that individuals with prior evidence of measles vaccination and vaccine immunity were both capable of being infected with measles and infecting others with it (secondary transmission). The study concluded that "measles may occur in vaccinated individuals, but secondary transmission from such individuals has not been documented." (source)

"This is the first report of measles transmission from a twice vaccinated individual. The clinical presentation and laboratory data of the index were typical of measles in a naïve individual. Secondary cases had robust anamnestic antibody responses. No tertiary cases occurred despite numerous contacts. This outbreak underscores the need for thorough epidemiologic and laboratory investigation of suspected measles cases regardless of vaccination status."