Measles have parents scrambling for answers, calling their doctors for advice if they can take their children to the park, and desperately researching the Internet for the truth. In light of the now confirmed 102 measles cases reported in 14 different states, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently debunked the top myths with quick and straight-forward facts.

At the core of the recent measles outbreak are the parents who have become so overwhelmed and inundated with different information, they’ve caused more harm than good to their children by not acting. At the pediatrician’s office, parents have the option to sign a “Personal Belief” waiver, which exempts them from their parental duties to protect their children against measles and other potentially life-threatening diseases. But are their fears based on any type of science?

Measles Myths And The Facts

There was one British study from 1998 involving 12 participants and a speculative conclusion, but it was later retracted and proved to be an unreliable piece of research. The discredited study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield led people to believe the MMR vaccination causes autism, but it was just in an effort to convince people his own vaccine shot was the better alternative.

But it was already too late, according to Gupta. Once the study was published, it gave birth to a world of anti-vaccination followers, and parents began skipping their child’s vaccination schedules. It’s one of the biggest reasons parents also speculated the shots contained poison, but in 2001 the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing vaccines that contained a low concentration of a mercury compound called thimerosal.

Parents today continue to not only fear what’s in the vaccinations but also worry, because there are many more given today, and they believe it’ll be too much for a child’s young immune system to handle. Gupta says in the video, although the amount of vaccines increased, there was a dramatic decrease in the amount of antigens given in total from 3,000 to 150 today, which indicates they’ve improved efficiency. Doctors try to reduce worries one-by-one, but parents are often overwhelmed with information.

In an effort to protect other children, even one pediatrician office in Ohio has taped a door in the waiting room stating that if a child hasn’t had an MMR vaccination and is sick not to bring them inside. One of the doctors has even put on a mask and gloves and walked out to the parking lot to treat a child in his parent’s car. That same doctor shows parents his own child’s vaccination history on file in order to help prove his belief in the safety of these shots.

The practice will take a vote between the 12 doctors in the office to decide whether or not they should continue even treating confirmed measles cases. Other offices may soon adopt the same practice.

If parents choose not to vaccinate their kids and then put others at risk because of it, who's responsible? The medical professional who is by law responsible to treat a life-threatening condition, or the parent who knowingly put her child in that place to begin with?