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California Measles Outbreak Roils Vaccination Disputes

Sandy Roffman is not vaccinating her daughter, Brooklyn, but not by choice.

“We were told that she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia," Roffman said, "which requires two years of very, very heavy chemotherapy” — and that completely wipes out her immune system. All vaccinations for Brooklyn had to be suspended.

“I feel incensed that there are people out there who are deliberately exposing their children to other illnesses," Roffman said. "I have spent the last 2-1/2 years of my life with a chronically ill child. It’s unfathomable to me that, A, anyone would deliberately put their child in harm and, B, would put the rest of the world at harm.”

Roffman is referring to parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. Eric Handler, public health officer of Orange County, California, said a measles outbreak that originated in the Disneyland theme park has now spread. In Orange County alone, more than 30 people have contracted measles, and a third of them are children.

“The children, the majority, were not vaccinated,” he said.

Handler said some parents are afraid their children will get autism from vaccines, something that’s been disproven in the medical community. He points to the Internet as a source of much of the fears among parents.

Parents like Dotty Hagmier who don’t vaccinate their children say they are acting in the children's best interests.

“There’s also many risks if they get the vaccine ... versus getting an illness they could actually recover from,” she said.

Such parents, Handler said, "are making a decision not to vaccinate based on information that they get from the Internet and from their peers. And we see pockets of affluent areas choosing to not get vaccinated, but this is not unique to Orange County.”

In California, students are required to be vaccinated when they enter school, but parents who don’t vaccinate their children can get a waiver called a Personal Belief Exemption. State records show that in child care facilities for 2- to 4-year-olds, there are more Personal Belief Exemptions in private schools than public schools.

Roffman wanted to enroll her daughter in a school that specialized in art but didn't because of the number of unvaccinated children there.

“We’re talking about children of educated artists attending this school [that] has an 11 percent Personal Belief Exemption [rate]," she said. "This is the school that we want to send our child to but we can’t."

But there has been a slight decrease in the number of Personal Belief Exemptions issued in California schools. Handler attributed that to a state law enacted last year that requires parents to talk to a health care provider who has to sign off on the waiver. He stressed that it is in the best interest of the child and the community to vaccinate children.

詞匯解析

defend

難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞

英漢解釋

v.防守；防護；辯護

參考例句

用作動詞 (v.)

Some players are better at defending.

有些運動員較擅長打防衛(wèi)。

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altitude

難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞

英漢解釋

n.高度；海拔；高地

參考例句

用作名詞 (n.)

We are flying at an altitude of 20000 feet.

我們的飛行高度是20000英尺。

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stimulate

難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞

英漢解釋

vt.刺激；激勵；鼓舞

vi.起刺激作用

參考例句

用作及物動詞 (vt.)

Light stimulates plant growth.

光會刺激植物生長。

I hoped my warning would stimulate her to greater efforts.

我希望我的告誡會促使她作出更大的努力。

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federal

難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞

英漢解釋

adj.聯(lián)邦制的；聯(lián)邦政府的；同盟的

n.聯(lián)邦主義者；同盟盟友

參考例句

用作形容詞 (adj.)

Switzerland is a federal republic.

瑞士是聯(lián)邦制的共和國。

Expenditures by the Federal Government have been steadily pared.

聯(lián)邦政府的開支正在逐漸削減。

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resume

難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞

英漢解釋

v.重新開始；再繼續(xù)

n.簡歷；履歷；摘要

參考例句

用作動詞 (v.)

We resumed our work after a rest.

休息之后我們重新開始工作。

用作名詞 (n.)

I enclosed my resume in my letter.

我在信里附上了我的簡歷。

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incident

難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞

英漢解釋

n.事變；事件；插曲

adj.難免的；附帶的

參考例句

用作名詞 (n.)

The police are connecting this incident with last week's terrorist bombing.

警方認為這次事件和上周的恐怖分子爆炸事件有關。

用作形容詞 (adj.)

There are many evils incident to human society.

人類社會有很多罪惡。

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personnel

難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞

英漢解釋

n.職員；人事部門

參考例句

用作名詞 (n.)

The personnel are not happy to change these rules.

全體工作人員對改變這些規(guī)定很不高興。

For more information about the job, please contact the personnel manager.

要了解更多工作詳情,請和人事部經(jīng)理聯(lián)系。

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