Measles Public Health Emergency - Time to declare measles un-eliminated in the US?
Measles outbreaks are now flaring across multiple U.S. states, and this week Texas public health officials announced that a second child has died of lung failure caused by the highly contagious viral disease. This eight-year-old had no underlying health conditions and had not received vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)—the primary, most effective tool to prevent infection.
Meanwhile cases continue to burst across state lines: new measles reports have spiked in Kansas, Hawaii, Colorado, Indiana and Michigan this week. Separately, increasing measles reports in Ontario have triggered travel alerts in neighboring New York State, while recent cases in Mexico have been traced to outbreaks in the U.S.
As efforts to contain these outbreaks sputter and spread of infections stretches into nearly three months, public health experts fear measles—a disease that was virtually eliminated nationally for a quarter-century—may soon officially reclaim a hold on the U.S.
Peter Marks, a leading vaccine official who recently resigned from his position as director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, recently told NBC News, “I think we’re well on our way” to losing the country’s measles elimination status—a long-standing public health achievement that was largely accomplished through the widespread distribution of MMR vaccines.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/measles-outbreak-in-u-s-may-undo-formal-elimination-status/
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