New York City Sees ‘Beginning Of Hope’ For Slowdown In Measles Infections
Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, outside a pediatrician office. Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman May 8, 2019
New York City health officials say there may be hope on the horizon for the ongoing measles outbreak in Brooklyn, the Daily News reported.
The outbreak is stilly “highly localized,” according to Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city health commissioner, who said Tuesday that 80% of the infections are occurring in four zip codes that have large concentrations of ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents.
The city has seen 466 measles cases this year, with 43 reported last week. But health officials say that that number represented a downward turn in the infection rate, suggesting that the city’s efforts to combat the disease are working. In April, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency for measles in the city, making vaccination mandatory in areas where the infections were most common. Rockland County, a suburban county north of New York City, had declared a state of emergency for its own measles outbreak in March.
Getting individuals and some ultra-Orthodox institutions to comply with the city’s measures to combat the disease hasn’t been easy. The city issued summonses to 12 people it said had defied mandatory vaccine orders. Multiple yeshivas in Williamsburg were found to have allowed unvaccinated children to attend classes. Some anti-vaccine sentiment in the ultra-Orthodox community has been driven by propaganda that opposes science on vaccines and governmental health institutions designed to appeal to the ultra-Orthodox community.
The outbreak may be getting better partially because two major Jewish holidays — Purim and Passover, which both revolve around large social gatherings — have come and gone in the last two months. Experts expected infection rates to spike around that time.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
