An “anti-vaxxer” is a person who, because of a variety of conspiratorial beliefs, refuses to take vaccinations or get their children vaccinated. The most popular delusion they operate under is that vaccines cause autism, a conspiracy theory popularized by 90s sex symbol turned real life X-Files character Jenny McCarthy who worked in a media blitz to spread this bit of Internet hokum in between marrying rich and being photographed simulating fellatio on garden hoses.

McCarthy didn’t start the anti-vaxxer movement though, that was unscrupulous modern day Mengele Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield was a doctor until his unethical experiments on children came to light. That, added to the fact that his influential study linking autism to vaccines was discredited as a hoax, led him to have his medical credentials revoked by the General Medical Council. The hoax was part of Wakefield’s scam to release a competing vaccine for MMR as investigative journalist Brian Deer exposed.

But anti-vaxxers aren’t moved by the facts, which in this case shows that the concerns about vaccines causing all sorts of syndromes in children were made up by a man known to experiment on children and who had a business interest in spreading this myth. The growing anti-vaccine movement has consequences, including the rise in crippling and deadly diseases once eradicated, and increasingly we are all paying the price for this dangerous fantasy:

California  is facing what could be the state’s biggest outbreak of pertussis since 1958, according to its top public health official. This contagious disease is more commonly known as whooping cough due the distinctive whoop that occurs when sufferers cough and gasp for breath.

“Whooping cough is now an epidemic in California,” said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, in a statement. “Children should be vaccinated against the disease and parents, family members and caregivers of infants need a booster shot.”

As of June 15, a total of 910 cases had been confirmed in the state. Another 600 suspected cases are currently being investigated by local health officials, the statement indicated.

The number of pertussis cases is now on a pace to surpass the total of 3,182 seen in the most recent major outbreak, which occurred in 2005, said Ken August, spokesman for the department.

August told MedPage Today that 1,200 cases were recorded in 2005 as of mid-June, meaning the state would probably exceed that this year.

The highest yearly total on record is 3,837 cases, seen in 1958.

So far this year, five children have died, all infants younger than three months.

Dr. Blaise Congeni of Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio said he wasn’t surprised, as higher-than-usual numbers of pertussis cases have been reported across the country.

“We are having an outbreak in Ohio,” though not as severe as in California, he said.

Oregon public health officials have also reported an unusually high number of pertussis cases in that state.

Both Congeni and August noted that pertussis tends to wax and wane in cycles. But gaps in vaccination coverage may also be playing a role, particularly in California.

The article goes on to say that California vaccine refusal rates are around 2%, which given the population size means there are literally tens of thousands of children who are even now potential incubators for diseases that ravaged the world and were only defeated in recent history. But what’s worse is that some schools in California, where parents can get “Personal Belief Exemptions” from vaccination schedules, have refusal rates of 20% or more. Why is this important? Because even the vaccinated can be infected by outbreak:

Researchers have found that vaccination rates of at least 93 percent are needed to ensure so-called herd immunity against pertussis, which prevents the disease from spreading quickly to unvaccinated individuals.

So because Infowars or their Twitter friend “opened their eyes” to the dangers of vaccines these people will spread disease after disease to your children. This is outrageous.

If you live in an area with anti-vaxxers keep your kids away from them. If you are in a school district with many of these people pull your kids out. Our reliance on antibiotics have produced super bugs that make even short hospital stays potentially fatal, so you’re children cannot afford the extra risk of humoring these people.