Hey, mom and dad are fighting listeners. It's me, Gabe. I'm here with something special for you today. It's an episode of Slate's Daily News podcast, What Next? If you haven't checked out the show, every day Mary Harris brings you the stories you need to know in her own unique and engaging way. Today's story I thought you guys would be particularly interested in. It's the story of the measles outbreak currently going on in Washington State.

Mary explains how the anti-Vax movement has changed over the last three decades and how it's been so persistent and how it's had such disastrous consequences.

I think every parent should be listening to this.

If you enjoy this episode,

search for What Next in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe. It's a great show

every morning. Thanks, and here's What Next.

If you had to describe the most recent measles outbreak in Washington and Oregon in like one sentence, what would you say?

I would say this is a self-inflicted wound caused by carelessness and a deliberate attempt to throw children under the bus for political gain and expediency.

You weren't expecting that answer, were you?

No, I was, actually. I've looked at your Twitter feed, friend.

This is Dr. Peter Hotez. He's an infectious disease expert. For the last month, he has been watching as officials in Clark County, Washington, try to contain an outbreak of measles that spread as far as Hawaii. He's got strong opinions about how this outbreak happened and who's responsible for it. I mean, it seems like every day we're getting more cases. What is that?

Well, you have to remember, measles is one of the most contagious childhood infections known.

The measles virus can live on surfaces and in the air for up to two hours after an infected

person coughs or sneezes. That means that each sick person will transmit the disease to up to 18 others.

But Peter says this outbreak is about something else.

It's about what happens when life-saving vaccines become optional.

Nearly a quarter of Clark County's kindergartners aren't up to date on their shots.

You've got pockets now more in the western states than in the eastern half, so Pacific

Northwest, American Southwest. We have counties in districts where 20, 30, 40 percent of kids are not

getting their vaccines. And that's a problem because that's when you get these breakthrough

epidemics of measles and pertussis.

And so we're basically, are in the process of unraveling all of our public health gains over the last couple of decades.

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