(NewsReady.com) – In 1978, the CDC set a goal to eliminate measles from the US by 1982. That didn’t happen but health officials declared it eliminated in 2000. That’s no longer the case, and now the disease is on the rise.
West Virginia confirmed its first case of measles since 2009 on April 22. The Monongalia County Health Department contacted officials the previous day about an adult testing positive for the disease. Florida, New York, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, Washington, and Arizona have also reported cases.
As of April 18, there are 125 measles cases in the US. That’s more than double the 58 cases reported in all of 2023, which is a concerning uptick in the number of incidences. According to the CDC, there have been seven outbreaks this year. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the cases (86 of 125) are related to outbreaks.
The data shows 57 incidences occurred in kids under 5 years old, 28 cases were in kids between the ages of 5 and 19, and 40 patients were over the age of 20. Officials reported that 83% of the individuals infected with the disease were not vaccinated, while 13% only had one dose of the MMR vaccine. The CDC recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine for all children before they enter school. Five percent (5%) of the cases involved people who’d had two doses.
The hospitalization rate for the patients who contracted the illness was relatively high. According to CDC data, 65% of the kids under 5 years old were hospitalized to manage complications of the illness or to be isolated. Ten, or 36%, of the patients 5 to 19 years old were hospitalized, and 53% of those over the age of 20 were admitted to the hospital.
Measles is an extremely infectious disease that spreads through the air and can cause a severe rash. It can also lead to complications such as swelling of the brain and pneumonia. Before the vaccine, up to 500 people died from the illness every year.
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