For the year so far the cases of measles have surged to 981, this is the highest annual count of cases in almost three decades, as documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This latest tally represents an increase of 4 measles cases within the last week, and the highest annual case count since 1992, when there were over 2,230 reported cases and four people out of those died. In 2000, this highly contagious viral infection was ultimately declared eliminated in the United States. However, the public health experts have warned that once the measles cases continue to increase in the next few months, then that status could be reversed.
In a news release the CDC stated, “that loss would be a huge blow for the nation and erase the hard work done by all levels of public health.”
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In 1978, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set a target to eliminate measles in the United States, and transmission of the viral infection was significantly curbed through widespread vaccinations and public health efforts to detect and contain measles cases before they became outbreaks.
The CDC declared, “before widespread use of the measles vaccine, an estimated 3 to 4 million people got measles each year in the United States, along with an estimated 400 to 500 deaths and 48,000 hospitalizations.”
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A few large outbreaks is the catalyst for the high case count this year, these include outbreaks in New York City and New York’s Rockland County, where the virus has been spreading for nearly eight months. Those measles outbreaks have primarily been concentrated among Orthodox Jewish communities and among non vaccinated individuals.
The CDC said last week, “concerns based on misinformation about the vaccine safety and effectiveness, as well as disease severity, may lead parents to delay or refuse vaccines.”
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Officials in New York have declared public emergencies, in an attempt to curb the spread of measles, requiring vaccinations in some neighborhoods and implemented bans on minors that has not vaccinated in Orthodox Jewish schools known as yeshivas.
Earlier this year in Washington state, meanwhile, most of the 72 people sickened in a measles outbreak centered in Clark County were unvaccinated children. That outbreak prompted lawmakers to tighten the state’s vaccine exemption laws, a move other states are also considering.
