A Texas state representative introduced legislation on Wednesday that would make it easier to opt out of childhood vaccinations, despite the resurgence of measles across the U.S. Republican State Rep. Bill Zedler, an outspoken anti-vaxxer, said he is not worried about the spread of vaccine-covered ailments because of “antibiotics.”
“They want to say people are dying of measles. Yeah, in third-world countries they’re dying of measles,” Zedler said Tuesday. “Today, with antibiotics and that kind of stuff, they’re not dying in America.”
Measles, a highly contagious and potentially fatal virus with no known cure, cannot be treated with antibiotics since they only treat bacterial infections. The new bill would ban the Texas health department from tracking families that opted out of vaccines, a move the medical community has warned will make containing outbreaks extremely difficult. As of this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded six measles outbreaks across the nation, including one in Texas.
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