Why measles is back from the brink of death

The measles outbreak that sickened 37 people in Brooklyn and Rockland County last week alone, has many wondering how, in the 21st century, we continue to be plagued by the nearly eradicated disease.

Thirty-three new cases were diagnosed in Brooklyn, while four more new diagnoses were identified in Rockland County.

Since October, in New York City and Rockland, a total of 371 cases have been confirmed.

The outbreaks, which have been traced back to Israel and Europe, have rocked not only the Orthodox Jewish communities they’ve hit hardest, but have altered the mindset of an America accustomed to not having to worry about measles as a public health threat.

Last week, Rockland County Executive Ed Day declared a state of emergency that includes a prohibition against children who have not been immunized from congregating in public places like restaurants, shopping centers and houses of worship.

Rabbis throughout Brooklyn are urging their followers daily to get vaccinated — advice that would have been considered unnecessary not long ago.

The outbreaks are also forcing many Orthodox Jewish people to ask themselves how this happened and whether there’s something unique in the community that has brought it to this place.

One factor some quickly point to is an anti-vaccination strain of literature making the rounds in Brooklyn and Rockland — a pamphlet distributed from the shadowy group PEACH, or Parents Educating & Advocating for Children’s Health.

The pamphlet falsely states that the measles vaccine “kills more kids than the disease would.” It also includes a passage with the signatures of several rabbis — including Shmuel Kamenetsky, a well-respected rabbi based in Philadelphia — who argues schools shouldn’t refuse entry to children who have not been vaccinated.

“Anytime these is a community leader or a rabbi that expresses any opinion on anything in any direction certainly people will be influenced,” said Yossi Gestetner, co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council.

There’s also a distrust and questioning of secular authority in the Orthodox world that may have led parents to delay getting their children vaccinated or forego the precaution completely.

Gestetner noted that the state’s decision last fall to lower the age threshold for a child’s first measles vaccination from the typical 15 months to six months fueled suspicion among the Orthodox. The move essentially raised the question: If the government is such an authority, why change the age?

The answer, of course, was to decrease the likelihood of the disease spreading, according to Rockland officials.

All of these explanations for why the Orthodox community has been so impacted ignore one significant fact: numbers.

David Greenfield, CEO of the Jewish nonprofit Met Council and a former city councilman, noted that there is a much higher percentage of children within the Orthodox community than in other groups, making it especially susceptible to higher rates of infection.

“Almost everybody in the community is vaccinated,” he said, noting that there are approximately 150,000 children enrolled in yeshivas throughout New York State. “Even if it were 1%, 1% would be 1,500 kids.”

“The number of children infected is far less than 1%,” said city health department spokesman Michael Lanza. “But city Health Department officials say that should not stop people who haven’t been immunized from getting the vaccine.”