April 12, 2024 – When a mom in Atlanta, Georgia found out. measles Her son had symptoms when he returned from a trip abroad earlier this year, and she knew that simply taking him directly to the local emergency room could put others at risk.
She locked him in a car outside the ER and alerted staff inside the car.
„While we were able to bring the child in immediately, immediately place him in an isolated room, mask him, and avoid potential exposure, the situation could have played out very differently. „No,“ said pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Matt Lynam. Atlanta treated patients.
The boy, who was over five years old and had not been vaccinated, recovered from measles after being hospitalized.
As measles cases have increased rapidly this year, federal health officials are urging medical and public health agencies to be on the lookout for potential measles cases.
„Most of the symptoms of measles are fever, cough, red eyes, and rash, but there are many other symptoms that may not be present yet,“ Linum says. “If we are not able to quickly identify an infected person and quickly isolate the child and their family, there can be many medical risks.”
The scenario in which an Atlanta mother alerted health care workers is unusual. In recent weeks, many communities have received warnings that people may be unknowingly exposed to measles at everyday places like Walmart. Chicago suburbs or the following medical center California.
Measles is so contagious that 9 out of 10 people who come into unprotected contact with it can become ill, and the number of infected people is on the rise, and vaccination rates are declining, so in some areas Risks are increasing in society.
CDC is caveat Last week, it was announced that measles vaccination rates among kindergarteners in the United States had fallen below the herd immunity rate of approximately 95%. On the other hand, the number of infected people is increasing. Within the first three months of 2024, the number of infections in the country exceeded the total number of infections recorded in all of 2023.
Latest CDC Tally The number of measles cases nationwide in 2024 is 113, almost doubling in less than two weeks. The pace is so fast that data scientists at the CDC have released a forecast to explore whether we are on track for a record year for measles.
What will the measles epidemic look like in 2024?
New estimates from the CDC predict that there will be about 300 measles cases in the U.S. this year, a far cry from the chart-topping 1,274 cases in 2019. However, 300 cases will rank him fourth in most cases in the past 25 years and even in 2024.
In 2000, measles was declared “eliminated” in the United States. This means measles is no longer constantly present in the country. The measles vaccine became available in 1971, and it took nearly 30 years for the population to achieve herd immunity. Herd immunity is typically achieved when about 95% of the population is vaccinated. Since 2000, measles outbreaks have been caused by unvaccinated international travelers who contracted measles abroad and brought it back to the United States, where they spread the disease to other unvaccinated people.
But vaccination rates have fallen significantly, and a new CDC report now says the disease is likely to lose its „eliminated“ status and begin to circulate and become more prevalent again in the United States. thing report Published on Thursday.
„This may be the only infectious disease that is so contagious, so vaccination is necessary to prevent infection,“ said Catherine, an adult infectious disease physician at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dr. Pauls explains.
Pauls, along with Anthony Fauci, M.D., and others. New England Medical Journal Titled 'Measles 2019 – A look back in time', we examine that record year and remember that before a vaccine was developed, the global impact of measles was in the millions. Because the disease was so common, there is a lot of data on its toll on humans, including the risk of fatal neurological complications occurring in 1 in 1,000 cases. It is.
Lessons learned from measles in 2019
Currently, health authorities test for measles on an outbreak basis, which depends almost entirely on whether the local population has been vaccinated.
„This is very different from other infectious diseases that are less transmissible,“ Pauls said. “We have been able to prevent the spread of coronavirus through social distancing and masking. However, measles is highly contagious and it is difficult to control the outbreak. We have to rely on vaccines.”
It was one of the largest modern-day infectious disease outbreaks in the United States, occurring in and around Rockland County, New York, in 2018-2019. The Orthodox Jewish community became the center of an epidemic caused by overseas travel. The county ultimately tallied more than 300 measles cases related to the outbreak. In 2019 alone, New York state accounted for 911 of the 1,274 measles cases nationwide.
children who are not vaccinated I was home from school 21 days if exposed to measles. Public health officials worked to trace the cases and asked those infected to isolate. A health ministry official said an „all hands on deck“ campaign was underway to get people vaccinated against measles, visiting local clinics, private and public workplaces, and distributing door hangers with information in neighborhoods.
„There was a huge increase in the number of vaccines being administered, and I think that's what ultimately stopped the outbreak,“ said Debra, medical director of the New York State Department of Health's Vaccine Division, a 25-year career. said Blogger, MD, MPH. He has worked as a pediatrician and public health official in New York, as well as at the CDC.
He noted that New York state eliminated religious exemptions for school vaccinations in response to the 2018-2019 measles outbreak.
According to , children usually receive their first dose of measles vaccine around age 1, with a second dose recommended between ages 4 and 6. American Academy of Pediatrics. However, children can receive a second shot within 28 days of the first, increasing protection efficacy from 93% to 97%.
The CDC announced last week that measles vaccination rates among U.S. kindergarteners had fallen from 95% to 93%, and were even lower in some areas. During the 2020-2021 school year, 250,000 kindergarteners were not vaccinated against measles.
CDC data scientists say the current vaccination rate of 93% means that for every 1 child with measles in a school of 100 children, about 10 others could become ill. I presume that means. As vaccination rates in schools decline, the number of people who can get sick increases at an accelerating rate, and when vaccination rates drop to 70%, one-third of students in schools Nearby people may get sick.
Typically, half of children who contract measles are hospitalized. There is no cure, only symptomatic treatment.
Herd immunity protects vulnerable children, such as infants who are too young to be vaccinated, as well as people with weak immune systems.
“I primarily see bone marrow transplant patients and help treat infectious diseases in that population,” Pauls said. „Some vaccines, such as the measles vaccine, cannot be administered because they are live vaccines.“
Close friends and family of transplant recipients are asked to ensure they have up-to-date information about the vaccine.
“We run into situations all the time where people are not up to date on vaccinations for a variety of reasons, and we find that people want to protect their loved ones,” Pauls said, adding that vaccinations Anyone with concerns about vaccination can discuss those concerns with a trusted health professional.
Talk about vaccine hesitancy
Low vaccination rates led to widespread outbreaks in New York state in 2018 and 2019, but lack of vaccination is not necessarily due to vaccine hesitancy or misinformation, the blog said. .
„People were kind of complacent and thought, 'Oh, we're all vaccinated, so we're not at risk,'“ she says. „It doesn't take much to reduce vaccination rates and cause disease outbreaks. If you don't see that in your community, people won't believe you.“
„We are a highly mobile society, and disease outbreaks are just a plane ride away,“ the blog continued. “We must remain vigilant when it comes to vaccination and addressing vaccine hesitancy. Community trust and engagement is key.”
For anyone who has a friend, family member or colleague who is hesitant to get vaccinated and wants to help them, the first step is to control your mindset when entering the conversation, and the second step is Be a patient listener, Lynam advises. Based on interactions with the patient's parents.
„A lot of times there is a tendency to demonize these parents and say, 'You're hurting your child and you don't care about your child.' I don't think that could be further from the truth. When working with family, friends, colleagues, and patients, it's important to remember that these parents are no different from you or me, they want what's best for their children, and they want to keep them safe. First and foremost, remember that you want to do it.”
Remember that they feel genuinely anxious after hearing or reading something about vaccines.
„What I try to do when I find myself in a situation like that is first check myself and remind myself that I want what's best for my kids. Then I try to help them. I try to understand their specific concerns, because that often helps you respond,“ Lynam said, adding that the American Academy of Pediatrics website I suggested it could be a resource to learn more about their questions.
„It's usually not a one-time conversation,“ he says. “I have to be patient.”