US measles surge blamed on vaccine fears

A former Deputy Commissioner at the US Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottleib, has criticized the "growing - but groundless fears - over the safety of traditional vaccines" by many parents for an outbreak of measles in the USA. Dr Gottleib, now a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a free-market-oriented think-tank, also accused New York state legislators of being "eager to help the disease prosper."

At the heart of the issue are concerns over the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, which was the focus of claims that the product was linked to a rise in autism (Marketletters passim). Dr Gottleib points to what he termed the "political hysteria" which arose from speculation linking thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines, with autism.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that, so far in 2008, there have been 64 new cases of measles, the highest rate since 2001. More than one third of these (22) were located in Brooklyn, New York.