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By Doha Madani
A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging an emergency statement in New York asking residents of some areas affected by a measles outbreak to be vaccinated on a mandatory basis.
Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an order last week asking unvaccinated people living in four postcodes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to receive measles vaccine in response to one of the largest epidemic outbreaks of recent decades. The epidemic has already affected 329 people, mostly children from Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn.
"It's the epicenter of a measles outbreak that is very, very worrying and needs to be treated immediately," Blasio said.
The epidemic began when an unvaccinated child contracted measles during a visit to Israel, where a major epidemic broke out, according to the city's health department website.
"Since then, new people in Brooklyn and Queens have been vaccinated and contracted measles while in Israel," said the health department.
Unless residents listed in the postal codes can demonstrate immunity against measles, they must be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella or face a $ 1,000 fine.
A group of unnamed parents in Brooklyn filed an injunction to seek redress, claiming the decision was unconstitutional and that quarantining would be a fair solution.
A judge, however, dismissed their complaint Thursday, saying the families had not provided an affidavit from a religious leader to prove their religious objections. The parents also failed to prove that the statement would require forced vaccination, Justice Lawrence Knipel said in the notice.
"A firefighter does not need to get the informed consent of the homeowner before extinguishing the fire of a home," Knipel wrote in his ruling. "Vaccination is known to extinguish the fire of contagion."
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