The U. S. has known at least 64 confirmed or suspected cases of measles that the government in 17 states has investigated this year, up from 58 cases reported nationally in 2023. This comes as the government grapples with several primary outbreaks of the contagious virus around the world. the world.
Now that spring break is resuming, health officials have stepped up their calls and updated their recommendations to Americans to make sure they are up to date on the highly effective vaccines used to protect against measles.
Most of the cases are linked to unvaccinated travelers exposed to the virus abroad. Some have also been linked to interstate highways in the United States.
“Declining measles vaccination rates globally have increased the risk of measles outbreaks around the world, including in the United States. Measles cases continue to arrive in the United States via angry travelers while in other countries,” the CDC said in a March 18 statement. advisory.
Friday’s tally of measles cases from the CDC is higher than the 60 cases shown and suspected reported through CBS News past week. Since then, more infections have been announced through local health officials in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.
“That’s why it’s urgent that we address the vaccination factor in order to slow the spread of measles, given the global situation and what we’re seeing with some vaccination rates in the country,” Dr. Demeter Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Although infections have risen, Daskalakis said the numbers are still low enough that it will be difficult for the government to manage privacy considerations by publishing more demographic trends of cases so far. Research is also underway to gather this information.
Daskalakis said most of the cases have been linked to unvaccinated Americans who returned to the U. S. with the virus.
“Measles is a disease that can be easily cured with an available vaccine. So, as we see more and more cases in the U. S. ,””In the U. S. , we have the capacity and the capacity to save measles,” he said.
Here’s what we know about this year’s outbreaks.
So this year, 17 states — Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington — have reported at least one case. .
Illinois has reported the number of measles cases in recent weeks, with a total of 17 infections reported in Chicago. Most were staying in a migrant shelter.
The CDC sent a team to Chicago on March 12 to work with the city to investigate and slow the spread of the virus and the city’s vaccination campaign.
Daskalakis praised the Chicago team for responding to the cases. The city was the first to invite the CDC to help fight a measles outbreak this year.
He said the company would likely combine lessons learned from Chicago’s reaction to help other cities as well, bringing up his past experience as the top fitness official in New York City beyond major outbreaks.
“I could see the New York classes revel in this response. So the answer is yes, we reiterate it and I’m sure you’re going to inform us some things from Chicago that will be useful in other contexts. too,” Daskalakis said.
Florida has the second-highest number of cases, with 10 infections so far this year. All but all the cases were reported in Broward County, after a Miami-area elementary school reported an outbreak.
CDC labs have been asked to investigate the genotype of the virus that caused this outbreak, which would possibly narrow down clues about the origin of the outbreak.
Most cases nationwide have been proven by laboratory testing. At least two cases are also suspected, in Clermont County, Ohio, and Coconino County, Arizona.
Most of this year’s outbreaks in the U. S. have been attributed to unvaccinated travelers who brought the virus with them and exposed other immune people.
Measles is incredibly contagious and can be transmitted by an inflamed user up to 4 days before symptoms appear. Symptoms do not appear until 11 days after exposure.
Of the 58 cases reported in mid-March, the CDC says 93% were related to exposure to the virus on foreign travel.
Parents probably don’t know that young children are recommended to be vaccinated against measles before six months of age, the government said, while older children probably won’t realize their destinations are facing outbreaks.
Cases are rising around the world, which is attributed to a wide immunity hole in many countries as a result of a lack of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Records received through CBS News, a Freedom of Information Act request, show that the CDC had launched investigations into measles exposure as of Feb. 20 on foreign flights arriving from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey.
Health officials in Georgia and California have also shown that at least one of their cases this year was connected through the Middle East. Other outbreaks in recent months have also been linked to other parts of the world, such as Europe, which has also faced a resurgence of infections.
“These fires are breaking out all over the world, creating sparks that can ignite those small outbreaks in America, and our purpose is not to let that spark get past a small outbreak and ignite as a larger fire,” Daskalakis said.
However, some recent groups are also similar to foreign travel.
At least three states have reported cases of measles in citizens after arriving in Florida.
A spokesperson for Coconino County, Arizona, said its recent cases have not been related to recent overseas or other cases reported in the past in the state this year.
The highest number of measles cases seen in the U. S. Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, there have been 121 cases reported in just six states.
Many of the infections that occurred in 2022 were due to low immunity among the thousands of people flown in from Afghanistan that year, triggering a mass vaccination crusade to slow the spread.
Before the pandemic, the last peak in infections occurred in 2019, when 1,274 cases of measles were reported in 31 states.
This is the number of measles infections recorded nationally since 1992, in part due to outbreaks that have continued for months in large, close-knit Orthodox Jewish communities in New York City. Other countries around the world also experienced primary outbreaks that year.
At the time, federal health officials were concerned that outbreaks threatened the elimination of the virus in the United States, something that was officially granted in 2000.
But Daskalakis says that right now “we’re not even close” to seeing measles elimination threatened.
The loss of measles elimination requires months of sustained transmission of the virus in a community, Daskalakis said, something that has yet to be observed.
“We are, along with our local and state health officials, very persistent on the factor of combating those outbreaks, as well as on the broader scenario of catching up with vaccines. But I think now is the time to act so that we don’t shut down measles elimination,” he said.
About two weeks after first being exposed to another user infected with measles, the first symptoms of the virus tend to be a high fever accompanied by at least one of what experts call the “three C’s” of measles:
Daskalakis noted that fever is a key component of early measles symptoms, distinguishing it from other causes of non-unusual symptoms.
“We don’t want everyone who has a runny nose to say, ‘I want to get tested for measles. ‘After all, it’s allergy season,” he said.
A few days later, the characteristic rash caused by measles begins, starting around the face before spreading to the upper body. Measles rashes don’t itch. Common headaches come with ear infections and diarrhea.
Tests are most delicate to detect measles infections when given by a doctor at least 3 days after the rash begins.
Health officials say other people who fear having measles call their doctor or hospital before traveling, given the precautions providers take to avoid spreading the highly contagious virus to other patients.
The CDC says about one in every unvaccinated American who gets measles is hospitalized.
During the record-breaking 2019 outbreak, 5% of hospitalized patients suffered lung infections, which doctors call pneumonia, and one progressed to encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. No deaths were reported.
Measles can be fatal, especially in young children. Before the disease disappeared in the U. S. , thanks to the widespread adoption of the vaccine in the 1960s, between two and three deaths occurred for every 1000 reported cases.
The latest measles death in the U. S. In 2015, a CDC spokesperson said, Daskalakis said measles deaths are rare in U. S. patients, but warned that even mild cases would likely face longer-term problems.
“There is sufficient evidence to show that measles itself can lead to decreased immunity to other pathogens. So even though we’re seeing other people who have mild cases, there are other things that may happen down the road that concern me,” he said.