Table 2.
Summary of 12 articles describing outbreaks associated with anthroposophic medicine/Waldorf schools
| Paper | Country | Year | Disease and Cases | Study aim | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braeye, T., Sabbe, M., Hutse, V., Flipse, W., Godderis, L. and Top, G., 2013. Obstacles in measles elimination: an in-depth description of a measles outbreak in Ghent, Belgium, spring 2011. Archives of Public Health, 71(1), pp.1–7 | Belgium | 2011 | 65 measles cases | This report describes a measles outbreak and evaluates control measures and interventions | The outbreak was in Flanders. It started in a day care center, infecting children too young to be vaccinated, spread to anthroposophic schools with a low vaccination coverage |
| Ernst, E., 2011. Anthroposophic medicine causes measles outbreaks. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift (1946), 136(44), pp.2271–2272 | Germany | 2011 | Describes 7 measles outbreaks in Europe | Summarizes measles outbreaks | Waldorf school |
| Ernst, E., 2011. Anthroposophy: a risk factor for noncompliance with measles immunization. The Pediatric infectious disease journal, 30(3), pp.187–189 | In several European countries: Germany, Austria, Netherlands, and Great Briain | 2011 | Describes 5 measles outbreaks in Europe | Review of outbreaks | Waldorf schools |
| Lassen, S.G., Schuster, M., Stemmler, M., Steinmüller, A., Matysiak-Klose, D., Mankertz, A., Santibanez, S., Wichmann, O. and Falkenhorst, G., 2014. Measles outbreak spreading from the community to an anthroposophic school, Berlin, 2011. Epidemiology & Infection, 142(4), pp.789–796 | Berlin | 2011 | 73 measles cases | Measles outbreak investigation in Berlin 2011: | Berlin community and among students of an anthroposophic school |
| Muscat, M., 2011. Who gets measles in Europe?. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 204(suppl_1), pp.S353-S365 | Several European countries | 2011 | Describes 4 measles outbreaks linked to anthropsophic communities | Individuals susceptible to measles | |
| Roggendorf, H., Mankertz, A., Kundt, R. and Roggendorf, M., 2010. Spotlight on measles 2010: Measles outbreak in a mainly unvaccinated community in Essen, Germany, March–June 2010. Eurosurveillance, 15(26), p.19605 | Germany | 2010 | 71 measles cases | Describes measles outbreak in 2010 in Germany and lists public health interventions used to stop this outbreak |
Unvaccinated community in Essen Cases identified in members of the Waldorf school or kindergarten, siblings of those members and visiting doctors who do not recommend vaccination |
| Kasper, S., Holzmann, H., Aberle, S.W., Wassermann-Neuhold, M., Gschiel, H., Feenstra, O., Allerberger, F. and Schmid, D., 2009. Measles outbreak in Styria, Austria, march–may 2009. Eurosurveillance, 14(40), p.19347 | Austria | 2009 |
37 cases in 2009, 397 cases in 2008 |
Outbreak investigation: to describe the measles outbreak by person, place and time and to identify the proportion of cases who were vaccinated | General population and the anthroposophic community in the Austrian province of Styria |
| Schmid, D., Holzmann, H., Abele, S., Kasper, S., König, S., Meusburger, S., Hrabcik, H., Luckner-Hornischer, A., Bechter, E., DeMartin, A. and Stirling, J., 2008. An ongoing multi-state outbreak of measles linked to non-immune anthroposophic communities in Austria, Germany, and Norway, March–April 2008. Eurosurveillance, 13(16), p.18838 | Austria, Germany, Norway | 2008 | 202 measles cases in Austria, 53 in Germany, and four in Norway, total number of measles cases 259 | Outbreak investigation | Non-immune anthroposophic communities in Austria, Germany, and Norway |
| Schmid, D., Holzmann, H., Schwarz, K., Kasper, S., Kuo, H.W., Aberle, S.W., Redlberger-Fritz, M., Hautmann, W., Santibanez, S., Mankertz, A. and König, C., 2010. Measles outbreak linked to a minority group in Austria, 2008. Epidemiology & Infection, 138(3), pp.415–425 | Austria | 2008 | A total of 394 (cases fulfilled the outbreak case definition} including 168 (affiliated to the anthroposophic community) | Described measles outbreak | Anthroposophic school in Salzburg city (Austria) |
| Wadl, M., Siedler, A., Krämer, W., Haindl, M.E., Gebrande, S., Krenn-Lanzl, I., Mankertz, A. and Hautmann, W., 2011. Measles transmission from an anthroposophic community to the general population, Germany 2008. BMC Public Health, 11(1), pp.1–8 | Germany | 2008 |
(217 Bavarian cases identified) (28 cases were attendees of the anthroposophic school in Austria) |
Measles Outbreak investigation and its transmission to the general population which will guide the future public health action | Two neighbouring Bavarian counties with students attended an Austrian anthroposophic school |
| Hanratty, B., Holt, T., Duffell, E., Patterson, W., Ramsay, M., White, J.M., Jin, L. and Litton, P., 2000. UK measles outbreak in non-immune anthroposophic communities: the implications for the elimination of measles from Europe. Epidemiology & Infection, 125(2), pp.377–383 | UK | 2000 | 293 measles cases | Describes the epidemiology of this UK measles outbreak | Non-immune anthroposophic communities, and unvaccinated groups |
| Ströhle, A., Eggenberger, K., Steiner, C.A., Matter, L. and Germann, D., 1997. Mumps epidemic in vaccinated children in West Switzerland. Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift, 127(26), pp.1124–1133 | Switzerland | 1997 | Exact number of cases not present but describes Mumps outbreaks throughout Switzerland | Describing the epidemic of Mumps in Switzerland and the main interacting factors that led to the epidemic | Vaccinated and unvaccinated children in Switzerland |