Giving Compass' Take:

• In Asheville Carolina, an outbreak of chickenpox has erupted due to families within an anti-vaccine community that claim a religious exemption from vaccinations. 

• The author points out that while religions do not prohibit the vaccine, there is so much misinformation out there causing people to think about the adverse reactions of vaccines rather than what is medically proven. 

• Find out which counties in the U.S. have thriving pockets of people who are part of the anti-vaccine movement. 

Chickenpox cases have skyrocketed at a North Carolina school where many families claim religious exemption from vaccines.

The Asheville Waldorf School had 36 infections as of Friday, The Washington Post reported. It is the worst outbreak in the state since the vaccine became available 20 years ago.

“The school follows immunization requirements put in place by the state board of education, but also recognizes that a parent’s decision to immunize their children happens before they enter school,” the school said in a statement to Blue Ridge Public Radio.

The Asheville Waldorf has one of the highest religious vaccination exemption rates in North Carolina, the Post reports, citing data from the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

As of the 2017-18 school year, 110 of the school's 152 students had not received the vaccine, the Citizen-Times reported.

The medical director for Buncombe County, N.C., tied the outbreak to low immunization numbers in a news release. Vaccination is not prohibited by most religions, but many parents in the U.S. have expressed worry about adverse reactions to vaccines due to misinformation spread about their uses.

A poll for Research America in May found that 70 percent say vaccinations for diseases like measles and polio are “very important.” That number was down from the 80 percent in November of 2008 who said the vaccines are crucial.

Read the full article about anti-vaccine by Megan Keller at The Hill