Protest for contined vaccination exemption

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Hundreds of anti-vaccination supporters demonstrated outside a public hearing in Washington state on Friday to protest a bill that would make it harder for families to opt out of mandatory vaccinations for children, the Associated Press reported.

The protest took place amid the state's worse measles outbreak in more than two decades. Health officials have reported at least 56 cases in Washington and Oregon.

An estimated 700 people demonstrated in Olympia, Washington, most of whom opposed stricter requirements, The Washington Post reported.

Wiesman called on lawmakers to remove exemptions for personal and philosophical reasons, citing the current outbreak. The bill, introduced by state Rep. Paul Harris (R) currently includes medical and religious exemptions, though Harris said he plans to amend the bill to remove those exemptions.

“You cannot find a peanut in one of my schools [because of concerns about allergies], but unvaccinated kids are walking around in my schools because of a personal exemption?” Harris said, according to The Post. "I find it appalling.”

The Pacific Northwest hosts some of the nation's most vocal anti-vaccination activists. Washington, Oregon and Idaho have some of the lowest MMR vaccination rates in the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control.

Millions of parents in America have reservations about their child getting the flu shot, but it has nothing to do with developing autism. A recent survey shows that more than a half of parents believe their child can get the flu from the vaccine itself, while a third simply believes it doesn’t work.

But this survey, conducted by medical researchers at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, shows that many parents still feel nervous about the vaccine despite its overwhelming support by doctors.

The flu vaccine works by exposing the body to a small part of the virus, which allows the body’s white blood cells and other infection responses to adapt to the trio of strains typically found in each shot. The parts of the virus in the vaccine are long-dead cells, so doctors say there’s no risk of contracting the virus from the vaccine itself. The body takes up to two weeks to develop the correct responses to the flu after receiving the vaccine, so if one contracts the disease immediately after getting vaccinated, they could still get sick, experts warn.

Of course, the belief that the vaccine causes autism has been a topic of debate for many years, with 28% of respondents in this latest survey believing that it does.