Measles cases in the U.S. are already triple last year's total [View all]

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 year’s 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 — there’s 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 that’s highly unlikely, however. Experts attribute this year’s 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