A massive outbreak of mumps among Orthodox Jews in 2009 was due to the system of learning in yeshivas, according to a report by NPR.

Over 3,5000 people got sick after an 11 year-old boy came home from the UK with the illness in June of 2009, prompting New York authorities to issue an additional shot of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to children who were already considered vaccinated.

Advertisement




Officials at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) determined that sitting for hours at a time with a chavruta – learning partner – could bombard the system with more of the illness than for which the vaccines generally provide immunity.

Advertisement

SHARE
Previous articleIsraeli War Games Simulate Strike on Iran
Next articleWhy Has New Jersey Been Forsaken?
Malkah Fleisher is a graduate of Cardozo Law School in New York City. She is an editor/staff writer at JewishPress.com and co-hosts a weekly Israeli FM radio show. Malkah lives with her husband and two children on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.