The following are the latest updates compiled by YWN regarding the measles outbreak which is mostly affecting the Frum population, fueled by anti-vaccine propaganda spread by a small minority of the community. Not only is the anti-vaxxer cult responsible for this outbreak, but they are responsible for anti-Semitic propaganda that has begun spreading online – specifically targeting Jews because of failing to get vaccinated.
Update below are by community. Any updates readers have, can be submitted to YWN.
LAKEWOOD, NJ:
The New Jersey Department of Health is warning residents that a twelfth case of measles – a highly contagious disease – has been confirmed in Ocean County. This individual could have exposed others to the infection while in Ocean County between November 6 and November 9. The Ocean County Health Department tells YWN that there are also an additional ELEVEN potential cases under investigation. YWN published a full list of where contagious persons visited. The list includes Yeshivos, Wedding Hall, DMV, Pizza Store, NPGS, Four Corners Bagel and many other locations. Read the full list here on the previous YWN article this morning.
BROOKLYN (WILLIAMSBURG, BORO PARK):
In Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, health officials put the outbreak total at 24 since the first case in October.
ROCKLAND COUNTY (MONSEY, NEW SQUARE, SPRING VALLEY):
Rockland County Health officials announced the number of confirmed cases of the measles rose to 68, with an additional 11 suspected cases.
Meanwhile, Refuah Health Center, working in step with the Rockland County Department of Health, is pleased to announce a 15% increase in measles vaccinations among Refuah patients age 1-4. Since October 2, 2018 Refuah has provided close to 3,000 measles vaccinations and continues to act as a Point-of-Distribution for the vaccine.
This signals significant progress in an area where some families opt to delay the traditional immunization schedule and a small pocket of anti-vaxxers peddle misinformation that fosters confusion and fear. These factors, combined with the highly contagious nature of the disease and the tight knit nature of the community, create an ideal environment for exposure and infection.
Like other measles outbreaks reported in the United States within the last ten years, the majority of confirmed cases stem from individuals who are unvaccinated or under vaccinated, demonstrating how even a small number of unvaccinated individuals can have a significant impact on the overall health of a community.
“There is a misperception that all families in this community don’t vaccinate their children,” said Dr. Rose Varon, head of pediatrics at Refuah and community provider for over 20 years. “The families I care for want to vaccinate,” said Varon.
“We are encouraged by the community’s response,” said Tamir Katz, MD, Vice President of Medical and Dental Affairs at Refuah. “There are many mothers out there that have questions and are unfortunately bombarded by misleading and erroneous information. At Refuah we are here to provide patients with correct information to help them make the right choice which is always to vaccinate,” said Katz.
Refuah continues to offer vaccinations at all Rockland County locations. Refuah encourages all children and individuals who are not immunized or those who are unsure of their vaccination history, to contact their primary care provider. An MMR vaccine provides the most effective protection against the measles and could provide protection against this exposure or future exposures. With 2 doses, the MMR vaccine can be 97% effective in providing immunity. For more information, please call Refuah at 1.845.354.9300.
PASSAIC, NJ:
YWN published on Wednesday that there were unconfirmed reports of at least one case in Passaic.
A local Pediatrician hung the following sign outside his office:
STATEMENT FROM NJ ASSEMBLYMAN & PASSAIC COUNCILMAN GARY SCHAER’S
If you or a family member (or anybody you know) has symptoms of measles you are to contact your physician immediately and your physician MUST report it to Department of Health Communicable Disease Reporting hot line so that they can alert businesses, schools, shuls and other places in both Passaic and Clifton. They will need to know where this child goes to school and where they have been in the last 2 weeks.
Your physician should know these procedures, and here are the telephone numbers of Department of Health Communicable Disease Reporting Hot Lines:
• Passaic – (973) 365-5611
• Clifton – 973 470 5760
CLEVELAND, OHIO UPDATES POLICY:
DR SHANIK OF LAKEWOOD RELEASES LETTER TO ALL JEWISH COMMUNITY – NOT JUST LAKEWOOD
Every child that goes to daycare, playgroup, elementary school, high school, or any similar facility must be vaccinated. If a student is not vaccinated, and has no valid medical excuses, they should not be allowed to attend any of the above mentioned facilities. This guideline is recommended for all communities, even if there are no outbreaks of measles, as per the academy of pediatrics and the CDC.
CHICAGO – PARENTS START PETITION AGAINST SCHOOL POLICY:
On Wednesday, YWN published the attached letter from JDBY-YTT. Parents in the school are unhappy about the school policy, and have started a petition online to force the school to change their policy. The petition already signed by more than 350 parents reads: This petition is in response to the letter from the Vaad HaChinuch. We, as the parents of children in the school, respectfully request that changes are made to JDBY-YTT policy. It is dangerous to put the vulnerable population including; expecting mothers, infants, immunosuppressed individuals and geriatric population at risk.
Solution
Change in JDBY-YTT policy to require all students and faculty, present and future, to be vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination. This will comply with the Illinois Department of Public Health Requirements, the Dayan of Agudath Yisroel of Illinois and Av Beth Din CRC
LETTER FROM CHICAGO DR. DOV SHAPIRO, DR YOSSI BORENSTEIN, & DR ADAM ARONSON:
Unfortunately, YTT/JDBY’s vaccine policy runs against acceptable medical recommendations. It would appear that the Vaad HaChinuch is mistaken about the medical facts and thus has made an inaccurate halachic ruling. Their school policy runs counter to the psak of RabbI Fuerst and Rabbi Reiss. Even more shockingly, some of the “so called” medical experts that they claim support their policy, have denied making any such statements or were not aware of the whole picture.
The issues are every simple:
1) Measles is the one of the most contagious diseases on the planet. 90% of those who come in contact with an affected individual will contract the disease unless they are already immune
2) Measles is a very dangerous disease. 5% of those infected will get pneumonia, 1% will get encephalitis (brain involvement) and 1-2 out of every 1,000 infected children will die from measles.
3) People are contagious starting 4 days BEFORE they show any symptoms
4) Children under 4 or 5, who have only received one measles vaccination only have a 90% chance of being immune.
5) Individuals who are fully immunized with two measles vaccinations, still have about a 3% chance of not being immune. That means that in a school the size of YTT/JDBY there are between 30 and 70 children who have been immunized there are NOT immune to measles, through no fault of their own.
6) For the medically vulnerable (infants, immunosuppressed children and adults, pregnant women, etc.) this is quite literally pikuach nefesh.
7) Everyone depends upon herd immunity (i.e. that everyone is vaccinated) to protect against measles outbreaks. When the vaccination rate falls below 95%, outbreaks occur and even immunized people are at risk.
8) With 10 unimmunized families at YTT/JDBY, the school falls below the protective threshold for herd immunity. This makes YTT/JDBY vulnerable to a measles outbreak. Veitzner Cheder and Cheder Lubavitch, with even lower vaccination rates, are even more at risk
So, what is the debate?
The Vaad HaChinuch maintains that as there is no outbreak in Chicago yet, there is no reason to exclude unvaccinated children from school. The major flaw in their misguided decision is that they have failed to understand that the frum Community is one community. We belong to a tight knit community. As travel and contact between the frum communities in Israel, Brooklyn, Lakewood, etc. occurs on a daily basis, the Chicago frum community is part and parcel of the larger frum community. As such, medically speaking, we are in an outbreak right now. It is not a question of if Chicago will have a measles outbreak, it is simply a question of when. There could be students in the school right now that are incubating the measles and are not yet showing symptoms. And if the proper quarantine procedures are not taken immediately, it will be too late.
Furthermore, what possible justification is there to consider the wishes of unvaccinated families when they have chosen to put the entire community at risk.
A school’s primary responsibility is to safeguard the lives of the children under its care. The recent decision by The Vaad HaChinuch has put its students and the community at large in great jeopardy. Please join the medical community in pressuring your schools to safeguard our precious children.
Dr Dov Shapiro MD
Dr Yossi Borenstein MD
Dr Adam Aronson MD
DETROIT:
Sources tell YWN that there is one confirmed case as of this time.
LETTERS FROM RABBONIM GROW:
RAMAT BEIT SHEMESH RABBONIM
CHICAGO RABBONIM
The following letter was released on Tuesday, and signed by HaRav Shmuel Fuerst, the Dayan of Agudath Yisroel of Illinois, and HaRav Yona Reiss, Ava Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
YWN has previously published an audio recording of HaRav Fuerst of Chicago regarding the vaccinations. Rav Fuerst joined the growing list of Poskim releasing Piskei Halacha directed towards the anti-vaxxers, following the measles outbreak which has spread across many Chareidi communities.
Rav Fuerst says he did alot of research into the issue (of vaccinations), and released the following message (audio below, transcribed by YWN):
“Every child must have vaccination shots. And a school should not take in any kids that were not vaccinated because of the Issur of ‘Lo Saamod Al Dam Reacha’ – because another child can catch this sickness. It can be measles, mumps, polio or any of these types of illnesses which are almost completely unheard of, and now we are hearing of them because people are not getting vaccinations.
“If you have a playgroup, you must make sure that all the children are vaccinated. If there is a child who is not vaccinated, you (the playgroup owner) must notify all the other parents, because you are putting them all in jeopardy”.
Rav Fuerst says this applies to children simply going to play at another child’s home. If they are unvaccinated, the other family must be notified.
ISRAELI POSKIM – WHOEVER DOESN’T VACCINATE IS A MURDERER
“Whoever isn’t vaccinated is a murderer” – so reads a Kol Koreh signed by leading Gedolim and Poskim in Eretz Yisroel. The letter was issued in an attempt to curb the rampant spread of the Measles currently spreading through Chareidi communities in Israel, as well as in other communities in Israel and around the world.
The Gedolim who signed the Kol Koreh include: Hagaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Hagaon HaRav Shimon Ba’adani, Hagaon HaRav Sriel Rosenberg, Hagaon HaRav Moshe Shaul Klein and Hagaon HaRav Menachem Mendel Lubin.
YWN reported about a letter released by Hagaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch, who stated specifically it is the responsibility of every father to make certain his children are vaccinated, bringing quotes from Shulchan Aruch citing the matter of שפיחת דמים, causing loss of life.
HARAV UREN REICH
An audio recording of Hagaon HaRav Uren Reich, the Rosh Yeshiva of Woodlake, is currently viral on social media. The shiur was recorded THREE YEARS AGO, but the words are timely. YWN has confirmed that Rav Reich’s opinion on the matter is the same, and even stronger now than before against the anti-vaxxers.
STATEMENT FROM THE OU AND RCA:
Orthodox Jewish parents, like responsible parents across the United States, overwhelmingly vaccinate their children against measles, mumps, rubella, polio and the other childhood diseases for which inoculations are now almost miraculously commonplace. As in many communities, a small minority of parents chooses not to do so. The ongoing measles outbreak demonstrates how this could bear very serious consequences, not only for their own children but others’ too, especially those medically unable to be vaccinated. The Orthodox Union (OU) and the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) strongly urge all parents to vaccinate their healthy children on the timetable recommended by their pediatrician.
Judaism places the highest value on preserving human life. It is well known that those facing even a potential life or death situation are instructed to set aside the Sabbath and other key tenets of halachic (Jewish law) observance until the emergency has passed. Prayers for good health and for the complete and perfect healing of the ill are an ages-old aspect of Jewish tradition. But prayers must go hand-in-hand with availing oneself of medical science, including vaccination.
There are halachic obligations to care for one’s own health as well as to take measures to prevent harm and illness to others, and Jewish law defers to the consensus of medical experts in determining and prescribing appropriate medical responses to illness and prevention. Therefore, the consensus of major poskim (halachic decisors) supports the vaccination of children to protect them from disease, to eradicate illness from the larger community through so-called herd immunity, and thus to protect others who may be vulnerable.
While the health of children is an important consideration, everyone should consult with his or her religious, medical and legal advisors in determining what actions to take. Nothing in this statement should be construed to add to or detract from rights or obligations created by New York or other state and federal statutes and regulations.
LAKEWOOD’S BMG URGES EVERYONE TO VACCINATE AFTER CONTAGIOUS PERSON WAS INSIDE:
Measles is highly contagious, so anyone who is not protected against measles is at risk of getting the disease.
People who are unvaccinated risk getting infected with measles and spreading it to others, and they may spread measles to people who cannot get vaccinated because they are too young or have specific health conditions.
Individuals are considered protected or immune to measles if:
• they were born before 1957
• have received two doses of measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine
• have had measles confirmed by a health care provider
• or have a lab test confirming immunity
Symptoms include a fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis or runny nose, and they could appear 10 to 12 days after exposure.
The virus can remain in the air or on surfaces for up to two hours.
To prevent the spread of illness, health officials are advising individuals who may have been exposed and who have symptoms consistent with measles to contact their health care provider, a local clinic, or a local emergency department before going for care.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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One Response
This seems to have started from people traveling abroad. Maybe the country should make it mandatory that those traveling should have measles vaccines, if they are old enough to get one.