Back to the Real Salt Lake Newsfeed

Tribune editorial: Don’t fall for anti-vax scare campaigns

In a world where even the most blatantly false statements get accelerated through social media, there is a special vulnerability for those who get spun by anti-vaccination claims.

Utah is seeing a rise in the number of parents seeking exemptions from school-required immunizations. After a measles outbreak in Washington in a county with low immunization rates, Utah’s public health leaders are warning that some Utah schools risk falling below the “herd immunity” level of 95 percent of children immunized.

When the number of unimmunized children in a population gets above five percent, outbreaks become possible.