Measles cases in the US have reached their highest
levels since 1996 with almost half of them involving children whose parents
refused vaccination, health officials said.
Measles can be a severe illness that causes symptoms like
rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. In rare cases,
patients face more serious complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and
even seizure and death.
The worrisome data is based on a study conducted by the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was published in the August
22 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
According to the findings, between Jan. 1 and July 31 of
this year, 131 measles cases have been reported in the United States. Almost
half of these cases occurred in children whose parents refused the vaccination
on philosophical or religious grounds or because they thought the shots might
cause autism or other health problems.
More than 15 patients, including 4 children of 15 months or
younger needed hospitalization. The good news is that no deaths have been
reported.
Comparing the figures with previous years, this year’s
number of measles cases has doubled, tripled or quadrupled in some situations. There
were 55 cases of measles in 2006, 66 in 2005, 37 in 2004, 56 in 2003, and 44 in
2002.
“We’re seeing a lot more spread. That is concerning to us,”
Dr. Jane Seward of the CDC said.
According to another federal report released at the end of
April, one in four children does not comply with official vaccination recommendations
because of missed doses of vaccines or vaccine lapses.
“We are concerned…about the population of people who are
choosing not to be vaccinated, and whether we may be on the verge of facing
larger-scale outbreak in the United
States,”
said Jane Seward of the CDC’s division of viral diseases at the time.
Before the measles vaccination program, about 3–4 million
persons in the U.S.
were infected each year, of whom 400–500 died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and
another 1,000 developed a chronic disability because of measles encephalitis.
