Measles cases in the U.S. are already triple last year's total
Source: Yahoo! News/NBC News
Fri, July 26, 2024 at 9:37 PM EDT
The number of measles cases recorded this year is more than triple the total from all of last year with five months still to go. According to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 188 cases have been reported in 26 states and Washington, D.C. No deaths have been reported, but 93 people have been hospitalized mostly children under 5 years old.
The U.S. has seen 13 measles outbreaks this year, the largest of which took off at a migrant shelter in Chicago in March and was linked to more than 60 cases. This month, measles cases have been reported in Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon and Vermont. Massachusetts case was the first in the state since early 2020.
Last year, there were only four measles outbreaks in the U.S. and 58 cases in total. This years tally is the highest since 2019, when the country nearly lost its measles elimination status. Most of the 1,200-plus cases that year were associated with outbreaks in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York.
Having this year be even worse than 2019 theres definitely potential for that, said Dr. David Hamer, a professor of global health and medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health. CDC models suggest thats highly unlikely, however. Experts attribute this years uptick to two main factors: declining vaccination rates in the U.S. and a rise in measles cases worldwide.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/measles-cases-u-already-triple-013748747.html
mucifer
(24,526 posts)my titers were low.
EastBayGuy
(102 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(50,283 posts)Igel
(35,875 posts)Yeah, those US long-time residents who didn't get their kids vaccinated. Those fall into two groups: Those opposed to vaccinations and those who simply didn't because of cost or accessibility or awareness.
Don't know "what's out there" these days, but when I was much younger and in a different state those opposed to vaccinations fell into three groups: those opposed for religious reasons and usually on the right or other (quasi)ideological, often "health" related, reasons and often on the left. Sort of an argument from bodily autonomy--"I control my body and am responsible for my kid's bodies, and the state will not tell me what I must do". (We can argue that there's a social responsibility to be imposed on others, right? While I like my own values on the matter and dislike other's values, values are personal but compulsion is societal.)
Then there's the other large reason actually cited in the OP:
the largest of which took off at a migrant shelter in Chicago in March and was linked to more than 60 cases
Note Chicago isn't a deep red bit of the US. And while this year's figures are 3x last year's, that one outbreak accounts for pretty much 1/3 of that or half the increase. Dispose of that one event and we're "just" double last year's figures.
A lot of countries have had vaccination campaigns and some report very high vaccination rates--but they also report very high rates of corruption. And in some countries they have Muslim fundies and CTers that are convinced that vaccinations are a Western anti-Muslim sterilization attempt. Where you find Muslim insurgencies you find such fairly often and it's not surprising that strains of polio that surface in Nigeria, Mali, Pakistan and Afghanistan are all genetically the same. This means that some immigrants, Muslim or otherwise--the percentage is not likely to be incredibly high over all, but ultimately it's an empirical question I haven't seen answered--will not be vaccinated. Why does this matter for the current US measle incidence?
declining vaccination rates in the U.S. and a rise in measles cases worldwide.
More measles in other countries + travel between countries (from there to here or just round trip) translates into greater incidence here.
former9thward
(33,050 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(50,283 posts)BumRushDaShow
(137,638 posts)Here is the most current one from CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
Hermit-The-Prog
(36,144 posts)former9thward
(33,050 posts)IronLionZion
(46,656 posts)Aristus
(67,591 posts)Once again, after a child is born, their concern for the childs health and well-being evaporates.
former9thward
(33,050 posts)Who is the "their"?
Aristus
(67,591 posts)is very nearly a perfect circle.
Love the fetus, hate the child
former9thward
(33,050 posts)Mysterian
(5,041 posts)There are anti-vax idiots in all states.
former9thward
(33,050 posts)Mysterian
(5,041 posts)Look it up.
Vaccines work.
former9thward
(33,050 posts)Despite your attempt to divert the thread and put words in my posts. This is about a measles outbreak. And the cause.
twodogsbarking
(11,631 posts)JCMach1
(27,853 posts)Media to blame
EastBayGuy
(102 posts)especially California and Florida.
BumRushDaShow
(137,638 posts)because certain airports are hubs for overseas travel and the infections seemed to spread out from there.