Shots For Spots And Want It Nots: Measles, Measles Vaccine, And Refusers

The recent measles outbreak stemming from exposures at Disneyland has focused attention on this disease that was eliminated from the United States in 2000. Karie Youngdahl, director of the History of Vaccines project, will put the current outbreak in historical context by looking at the epidemiology of measles over time and attempts at immunizing for measles from the mid-1700s. She will also discuss resistance to vaccination and the ways that arguments against vaccine have been made by anti-vaccinators from Edward Jenner’s time to now. Karie Youngdahl is the director of the award-wining History of Vaccines project, found online at www.historyofvaccines.org. The site offers historical and contemporary information about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases with the aim of exploring the impact vaccines have had on human health. A blog covers emerging issues. The History of Vaccines is a project of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest professional medical society in the United States. March’s Science on Tap event is hosted by Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia