By Jen Kirby From New York Magazine

As the Disneyland measles outbreak swells — the number of cases in the U.S. has ticked up to 102 infections in 14 states, most of which link back to the the iconic theme park — the anti-vaccination community has been having a crisis dialogue within its own ranks.

California officials have said they know the vaccination status of 34 of the 59 people infected in the Disney outbreak, and at least 28 were unvaccinated. Even while vaccination rates in California are close to the U.S. average, those numbers disguise differences among communities that have fallen below threshold for “herd immunity” — the collective level of inoculation that protects even the unvaccinated. Fifteen years ago, the CDC declared measles had been eliminated in the U.S. — last year there were 644 cases nationwide. “There is every reason to get vaccinated — there aren’t reasons to not,” President Obama told Today on Monday, responding to the outbreak.

So how do anti-vaxxers respond to all this? Looking at anti-vaccination and non-vaccination online forums, many on motherhood and pregnancy sites, opinions range from dismissal to anger. Some blame the media and the medical industry for blowing the outbreak out of proportion or willfully concealing the real culprit — of which several are posited. There’s frustration for being called ignorant. There’s acceptance that a child might get measles, but there’s also worry that he or she could spread it to vulnerable others.

The messages are a lens into a movement that has grown enormously over the past two decades, but which tends to communicate outside mainstream channels. Not everyone on the anti-vaccine forums is an absolutist — many identify as “delayed” or “selective” vaxxers, meaning they’ve postponed, but haven’t necessarily entirely written off, vaccinations, or have chosen to give their kids only a few shots instead of the full slate.

Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Here’s a snapshot of those discussions:

Mothering Forum: I’m Not Vaccinating Threads:

mamakah:

We have a Disneyland trip planned in just under two months. DS is unvaccinated, and although I’m not afraid of measles, I acknowledge that for some it could be problematic and don’t necessarily want him to be a/the “typhoid mary” and contract and spread the disease via airports, airplane rides, etc.
Anne Jividen:

Sorry, I just watched the CNN piece on the Disneyland measles outbreak … and I’m feeling snarky and extremely frustrated over the lack of real information concerning this latest outbreak. Just more and more bashing of the unvaccinated. I’ve also noticed how MSM has stopped reporting how many vaccinated people have also contracted the infection as the outbreak peaks.
serenbat:

Non-vaccers are just filled with measles ready to pop out at any moment! I did post links since its documented that one can be vaccinated and still spread the disease. It originated someplace, I know it’s easy to push all the blame on non-vaccers first.
beckybird:

They shift the blame to others, and deny problems with the vaccine until there is too much evidence to ignore. Then, without skipping a beat, a new vaccine or a new recommendation will hit the market… people will shift to the new “improved” vaccine, or the updated recommendation for more boosters, and business will continue as usual. There will always be people who have problems with vaccines, and they will always be ignored or ridiculed. Nothing changes!

For more on this story and snapshots go to: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/anti-vaccinators-react-to-measles-outbreak.html?om_rid=AACMTw&om_mid=_BU0S1yB8-J6$-T