As more than 1,000 students have been quarantined in California and New York State has begun issuing expensive summons to at least 12 unvaccinated people who have dared to defy its mandatory vaccination order, the CDC on Monday confirmed that the number of measles cases documented in the US since the beginning of the year has climbed to 704 cases in 22 states, the largest number of cases documented in a single year since 1994…and it’s only April.
The outbreaks are a huge setback for public health officials in the US, who had declared that measles had been eliminated back in 2000.
The worst outbreaks have been documented in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and New York’s Rockland County. Some 88% of cases have been associated with these religious communities. To combat the outbreak, NYC has instituted a policy of mandatory vaccinations, and Rockland County has threatened a $2,000-a-day fine for any unvaccinated individuals who mix with the general public.
In a statement Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar underscored the seriousness of the outbreaks: “We have come a long way in fighting infectious diseases in America, but we risk backsliding and seeing our families, neighbors, and communities needlessly suffer from preventable diseases. We are very concerned about the recent troubling rise in cases of measles. Vaccine-preventable diseases belong in the history books, not in our emergency rooms. The suffering we are seeing today is completely avoidable. Vaccines are safe because they are among the most studied medical products we have.”
Currently, the US leads the developed world in the number of unvaccinated children.
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Outside New York, the worst outbreaks have been documented in California, Washington and Michigan.
Here are key facts about measles:
- Public health officials blame the measles resurgence on the spread of misinformation about vaccines. A vocal group of parents opposes vaccines, believing that ingredients in them can cause autism. Social networks have resorted to censorship to prevent the spread of any related postings.
- The largest outbreaks are concentrated in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City’s Williamsburg neighborhood, where some 390 cases have been confirmed, and Rockland County north of New York City, which has recorded 201 cases. Those figures include infections from last year and are not directly comparable to the CDC numbers.
- Other outbreaks have been reported in Washington state, New Jersey, California’s Butte County and Michigan.
- The disease is highly contagious and can be fatal, killing one or two of every 1,000 children who contract it, according to the CDC. It can also cause permanent hearing loss or intellectual disabilities. It poses the greatest risk to unvaccinated young children.
- The United States’ 2000 declaration that measles was eradicated meant that the disease was no longer present in the country year round. Measles remains common in some countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, and unvaccinated travelers to those countries can bring it back to the United States. The current outbreaks are believed to trace back to visits to Israel and Ukraine.
- New York City officials said some 21,000 people have received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine in affected areas since the outbreak began in October. The city has begun fining unvaccinated adults.
- Lawmakers in Oregon, California and Washington state are considering bills to eliminate nonmedical exemptions that allowed unvaccinated children to attend public schools.
- In order to achieve herd immunity that protects those unable to get the measles vaccine, such as infants and people with compromised immune systems, 90% to 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2J3Fdd0 Tyler Durden