Ebola Scare and Measles Resurgence: Mandatory Isolation/quarantine and Vaccination

Mark C. Aita, Takeem T. Ragland
2015 Online Journal of Health ethics  
This paper argues that the history of two governmental directives (non-voluntary isolation/quarantine and mandatory measles vaccination) follow common routes in American jurisprudence and share many congruencies in ethical analysis. Two Oct 2014 real life case studies and the Dec 2014 Disneyland measles outbreak serve as prototypes for ethical and legal analysis of non-voluntary isolation/quarantine and mandatory measles vaccination respectively. Both mandates pit the rights of the individual
more » ... the rights of the public. The paper argues that the dilemma of conflicting rights is caused by a collision of two principles of right action (dutybased v. consequence-maximizing) and that the clash can be mediated by applying the felicity calculus (net utility) from the theory of utilitarianism. The paper also argues that emotivism, and more specifically the theory of persuasive definition, explains the formation and expression of public sentiment on the two governmental directives.
doi:10.18785/ojhe.1102.02 fatcat:4eohgj6fqfeijgqnf7ycmvlcky