We have an effective and readily available vaccine to prevent measles, but cases have been climbing steadily in the U.S., and doctors are concerned.
According to ABC News, there have been eight confirmed cases in Philadelphia since December 2023 among unvaccinated individuals. A person traveled through D.C.-area airports and now cases have been identified in Delaware, New Jersey, and Washington State.
While the number of cases hasn’t reached record highs, the fact that we even have these outbreaks is disturbing, say experts. Measles was declared eliminated in 2000, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“That means the disease is no longer constantly present in this country. However, travelers continue to bring measles into the United States, and it can sometimes spread and cause outbreaks among people who are not vaccinated,” says the CDC.
“The fact that we’re seeing sporadic measles cases, to me, says we probably have pockets in the United state where we’re not doing a good job vaccinating and I’m worried that this is a trend that’s been getting worse over the years,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. A CDC report last November found that exemptions for routine childhood vaccines among U.S. kindergartners are at their highest levels ever.
Hotez said that when he studied this topic in 2018, he found that certain counties across the country had up to 10 to 20% of kids skipping childhood immunizations. “That’s what measles exploits,” he said.
Measles can cause serious health problems and one in five people who get the contagious disease will be hospitalized. Children younger than five may experience ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling of the brain), and even death, says the CDC.
“We can prevent this, we can stop this. Parent should be scared of measles,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, told ABC News. “They should be scared of this virus as my parents were. The difference was my parents couldn’t do anything about it.”
Offit adds that now parents have the option to protect their children which makes it even more disturbing to see children come into the hospital who could have had the vaccine but didn’t. Experts say that one of the reasons people do not vaccinate their children is the rumor that the MMR shot, which includes measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, causes autism. Although that claim has been debunked, the fear remains in some minds.
“Once you scare people, it’s hard to unscare them,” says Offit. “So, people then sort of started to back away from that vaccine. So, we saw cases again.” Hotez noted that the politicization of the COVID-19 vaccine also contributed to anti-vaccine sentiments. Another reason for the decline in childhood vaccinations is that people have forgotten the severity of these diseases before the advent of vaccines.
Globally, the number of cases of measles increased by 18% and deaths by 43% according to data gathered from 2021 to 2022.
“It’s a dangerous game we’re playing by leaving a critical percentage of children unvaccinated,” Offit said. “This is a safe and effective vaccine. This is a virus that can cause considerable suffering and hospitalization and occasional death. Don’t play around with this virus or we will pay an even bigger price than we’re paying now.”
Lynn C. Allison ✉
Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.
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