Stop fussing over measles vaccination rates; start worrying about flu shots

Washington

YOU probably heard about the Disneyland measles outbreak last year. One infected person is thought to have visited the theme park, and thanks in part to low immunisation rates, 142 people in California and six other states got sick.

It wasn't close to the worst recent measles outbreak in the United States, but because of its origin in the shadow of Cinderella's castle, it produced a crescendo of media and public concern about the larger problem of childhood vaccination rates, which have dipped slightly in some states.