OR - Public health emergency declared over measles anti-vax hotspot near Portland and NY, Jan 2019

[NJSleuth91]

Flight Attendant, 43, Who Contracted Measles on Flight Dies After Battling Disease for 5 Months

Wow. I have no words. This is absolutely ridiculous and horrifying. The phrase "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" comes to mind...these people have NO idea how bad things will get if more and more people stop vaccinating.

 

[FrostOwl]

Yet another reason to vaccinate against measles, a new study has shown that when people gets measles, the infection causes damage to the immunity system, and makes them vulnerable to other infections for a long time after, in some cases several years. Measles wipes out immune system's memory, study finds

 

[FrostOwl]

In Samoa at least 6 infants, most of them under the age of two, and unvaccinated, have died, and of 716 suspected cases 40% have needed hospitalisation.

And there are still those who believe that measles is a "safe" childhood disease you don't need to vaccinate against. Samoa declares state of emergency over deadly measles epidemic

Only about 2/3 of the population in Samoa are vaccinated. Its neighbouring countries Tonga and American Samoa have also had measles outbreaks, but no measles-related deaths, and those countries have an about 90% immunisation rate.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

ABC News video: History of measles in America

Video: A brief history: Measles in America

 

[FrostOwl]

The measles epidemic on Samoa shows the devastation the disease can do among an unvaccinated pediatric population. Now 39 people have died, of them 35 children under the age of four, and there are 14 children on ventilators at a hospital where there normally are only four intensive care beds. In 2018 only 31% of the children under five were vaccinated, after that anti-vaccine groups had spread fear after two infants had died after being vaccinated, even if it was discovered later that their deaths were not because of the vaccine. Samoa measles outbreak: WHO blames anti-vaccine scare as death toll hits 39

 

[FrostOwl]

More about how the measles outbreak affedts Samoa. One family lost three small children: 'There are no words': Samoa buries its children as measles outbreak worsens

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

'Tough year' for measles and other infectious diseases in US

NEW YORK, NY – This year, the germs roared back.

Measles tripled. Hepatitis A mushroomed. A rare but deadly mosquito-borne disease increased.

And that was just the United States.

Globally, there was an explosion of measles in many countries, an unrelenting Ebola outbreak in Africa and a surge in dengue fever in Asia. There were also backslides in some diseases, like polio, that the world was close to wiping out...

 

[imstilla.grandma]

As of April 5, 2020, there have been 12 confirmed cases in 7 jurisdictions.*Jurisdictions refer to any of the 50 states, New York City, and the District of Columbia

• From January 1 to December 31, 2019, 1,282* individual cases of measles were confirmed in 31 states. Of these cases, 128 were hospitalized and 61 reported having complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis.
• This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1992. More than 73% of the cases were linked to recent outbreaks in New York. The majority of cases were among people who were not vaccinated against measles. Measles is more likely to spread and cause outbreaks in U.S. communities where groups of people are unvaccinated.

All measles cases were caused by measles wild-type D8 or B3.
Measles Cases and Outbreaks
Measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000. High national coverage with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and rapid implementation of measles control measures prevent widespread measles transmission.

During January–September 2019, 1,249 U.S. measles cases were reported, the highest annual number since 1992. Eighty-nine percent of measles patients were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status, and 10% were hospitalized. Eighty-six percent of cases were associated with outbreaks in underimmunized, close-knit communities, including two outbreaks in New York Orthodox Jewish communities that threatened measles elimination status in the United States.
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https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/figures/mm6840e2-F.gif
Abbreviations: NYC = New York City; NYS = New York State.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/pdfs/mm6840e2-H.pdf
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