Measles in Minnesota: more cases and a visitor

We recently discussed here on LeftBRainRightBrain the measles outbreak in Minneapolis. Since then the number hospitalized has continued to rise. There are now six kids who have been hospitalized. As of March 23rd (two days ago) there were 11 cases of measles total. Why bring this up on an autism-focus blog? Because the outbreak has ties to the autism communities. One of the questions that has arisen in recent years is whether there are more autistic children amongst the Somalis in Minneapolis than amongst other groups. In response to the news that a larger fraction of young Somaili children were in the autism classes, Generation Rescue reached out to the Somali community. Andrew Wakefield reached out to the Somali community. Fear of autism appears to be behind a possible low vaccination rate amongst Somali children. And, now, Somali children have higher incidence of measles in this outbreak.

According to the MDH: “Four of the cases were too young to receive vaccine, five were of age but were not vaccinated, and two have unknown vaccine status”. Of those unvaccinated, I believe at least three were from the Somali community.

In response to the measles outbreak, Andrew Wakefield is once again speaking with the Somali community there. In Anti-vaccine doctor meets with Somalis, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a controversial British doctor whose research purported to link vaccines to autism, met privately with a gathering of Somali parents in Minneapolis on Wednesday night.

and,

Wakefield, who arrived amid the city’s first measles outbreak in years, declined to answer questions about the purpose of his visit. Reporters were barred from the meeting, which was described as a “support group” for parents of autistic children.

I find this closed door discussion more than a bit ironic. Calls for transparency abound when people are inquiring about the government’s actions. But Mr. Wakefield declined to even comment for the press, much less allow access to his meeting.

The Minnesota department of Public Health has translated their measles fact sheet into Somali.

It was noted that Mr. Wakefield has discussed a study on the Somali autism prevalence question:

Patti Carroll, an organizer of Wednesday’s meeting at the Safari restaurant, said that Wakefield is helping to build support for a study about rising autism rates in the Somali community.

What wasn’t mentioned is that the National Institute of Mental Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Autism Speaks are already starting a project to study the question.

I can’t help but think back to one of the Jenny McCarthy interviews a few years back. She made a comment that maybe people will have to start dying of vaccine preventable diseases before people take her seriously. My guess is that she wasn’t expecting outbreaks that could be so directly tied to her, her organization (Generation Rescue) and one of her mentors (Andrew Wakefield).