Pat Dollard

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(Pictured)Measles in the eye. (Inset) Measles on body.

I have a perspective on this: Many of you know my wife and I own and operate a state certified daycare (no, the kids don’t know anything about Bash, LOL) but one of the requirements of being able to have your kid get into our facility is that they need immunization records.

It is shocking how many people refuse to have their children vaccinated. Much is blamed on a not-proven autism/measles vaccination (mmr) connection. I don’t know if they are connected or not, but I have heard some hellacious anecdotal evidence. Nevertheless, our kids have been vaccinated.

My wife and I, and our pediatrician, agreed that the benefits of the vaccination outweighed the risks. Many people do not feel that way, and they are now saying that this outbreak of Measles in the 15 states is mostly people who were never immunized against it.

A measles outbreak has sickened more than 120 people in 15 states – making it the biggest outbreak in the U.S. in more than 10 years, Reuters is reporting.

According to federal health officials, most of the victims were not vaccinated against the highly contagious virus.

In a statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak has been traced to travelers who became sick overseas, returned to the U.S. and infected others.

The news comes on the heels of public health officials stressing the importance of immunizing children.

“What concerns me is the trend of more and more people not vaccinating their children because of fears that vaccines cause autism — although no studies have proven this to be true, Dr. Joseph Rahimian, an infectious disease specialist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, told FOXNews.com in May.

Last month, British health officials said measles had again become an epidemic in that country for the first time since the mid-1990s due to parents not getting their kids vaccinated.

“The primary reason for lack of vaccination is personal belief exemptions,” the CDC’s Dr. Larry Pickering told a news conference.

“Until better global control is achieved, cases will continue to be imported into the United States and outbreaks will persist as long as there are communities of unvaccinated people,” Pickering said.

Measles is caused by a virus that normally grows in cells that line the back of the throat and the lungs.

“It’s actually one of the most communicable infectious diseases in the world,” Rahimian said.

Typical symptoms include:

— Coughing

— Runny nose

— High Fever

— Rash (which usually starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body)

About 1 in 5 measles sufferers experiences more severe illness, which can include diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis, chronic neurological deficits and even death.

The virus also remains a leading cause of death among children in poor countries, killing about 250,000 people a year globally.

Details of the outbreak first surfaced in May when more than 70 people came down with the virus in nearly a dozen states.

States with cases now include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington state, as well as Washington, D.C., according to the CDC.

This latest outbreak comes eight years after the virus was declared practically dead in the U.S., thanks to a vaccination program that began in the 1960s.

(Fox)