Measles Outbreak in New York, US

What is the issue?

New York recently declared a public health emergency and ordered mandatory vaccinations for measles in a part of its Brooklyn town.
This has led to concerns over the resurgence of measles in New York and elsewhere.

What is measles?

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease.
It typically begins with a high fever. Several days later a characteristic rash appears on the face and then spreads over the body.
Among serious complications, 1 in 20 patients gets pneumonia.
1 in 1,000 gets brain swelling, possibly leading to seizures, deafness or intellectual disability.
While it’s rare in the U.S., about 1 in every 1,000 children who get measles dies.
Spread - Measles is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons.
So it spreads by coughing or sneezing, and someone can spread the virus for 4 days before the rashes appear.
The virus can live for up to 2 hours in the air or on nearby surfaces.
9 of 10 unvaccinated people who come into contact with someone with measles will catch it.

Vaccine - Known as the MMR vaccine, it protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
Two shots are required, one around the first birthday and a second between age 4 and 6.
Full vaccination is 97% effective at preventing measles.

What is the recent outbreak in the US?

There were 285 measles cases in the New York city since September, 2018.
In the US, there have been 465 cases of measles so far in 2019, two-thirds of them in New York state.
This compares to 372 cases in the U.S. for all of last year.
Besides New York, there have been outbreaks this year in Washington state, California, Michigan and New Jersey.
The disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but evidently, cases have been rising in recent years.
This means that it is currently not being spread domestically.
Possibly, unvaccinated Americans travelling abroad, or foreign visitors in America, are bringing in the virus.

How is it elsewhere?

Measles is far more common around the world; the World Health Organization (WHO) said measles claimed 110,000 lives in 2017.
The WHO reports that there had been a 30% increase in measles cases in recent years.
E.g. a huge outbreak in Madagascar has caused more than 115,000 illnesses and more than 1,200 deaths since September, 2018
Common tourist destinations like England, France, Italy and Greece had measles outbreaks last year.
Nearly 83,000 people contracted measles in Europe in 2018, the highest number in a decade.

How vulnerable are children in the U.S.?

Most of the reported illnesses are in children; roughly 80% of those affected are at age 19 or younger.
Overall about 92% of U.S. children have gotten the combination vaccine.
But 1 in 12 children in the U.S. do not receive the first dose on time.
In some places vaccination rates are far lower than the national average.
E.g. an outbreak in Washington state is linked to a community where only about 80% of children were properly vaccinated

What are the challenges to vaccination?

The current spread is partly the result of misinformation that makes some parents avoid the crucial vaccine.
[In the late 1990s, a study linked MMR vaccine to autism but it was found to be a fraud.
Later research found no risk of autism from the vaccine.]
Moreover, some people cannot be immunized for medical reasons including infants and people with weak immune systems.
Vaccination against a list of contagious diseases is required to attend school in the U.S.
But 17 states allow some type of non-medical exemption for personal, moral, religious or other beliefs.
E.g. some in New York’s Orthodox Jewish communities have some religious principles against taking vaccination
Lawmakers are learnt to be debating on ending such personal or philosophical exemptions.

Source: Indian Express