NYC: Measles outbreak

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Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07032009/news/regionalnews/brooklyn/measles_in_brooklyn_177462.htm

MEASLES IN BROOKLYN

By DAVID SEIFMAN

Last updated: 2:35 am
July 3, 2009
Posted: 2:22 am
July 3, 2009

The city's Health Department has identified 11 cases of measles in Brooklyn over the last two months, leading to an alert yesterday urging doctors to report all suspected cases of the disease.

Officials said measles is not common in the Big Apple, but is highly contagious. Nearly all the known cases were in children who were not vaccinated.

Measles is a respiratory infection caused by a virus. There is no cure, but most patients recover with rest.

 

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Re: NYC: Measles outbreak

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local..._health_department_issues_measles_alert_.html

City's Health Department issues measles alert after 11 confirmed cases in Brooklyn

BY Frank Lombardi
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 5:06 PM


A measles alert was issued yesterday by the city's Health Department after an outbreak of 11 confirmed cases and one suspected case, all in the Williamsburg and Borough Park sections of Brooklyn.

The 12 cases identified over the past two months involve 10 children, between the ages of 8 months and 4 years, and two adults, according to the Health Department.

The alert sent to physicians and other health-care providers states that "most of the cases have had a close contact with each other" and that "in one instance, transmission may have occurred in a physician's waiting room." None of the 12 had been vaccinated.

The cases are still under investigation and officials were sketchy on details.

A similar outbreak last year infected 29 people in the city, primarily among children 12-15 months of age who had not been vaccinated, according to the department.

There have been wider measles outbreaks in other countries, where vaccinations are less prevalent.

While rarely fatal, measles is a highly contagious disease, especially among unvaccinated children, and can cause health complications, such as diarrhea, ear infection or pneumonia. Some victims require hospitalization.

Measles causes fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red eyes. Those infected can spread the illness for five days before developing a rash, and for four days after the rash sets in, according to the Health Department.

Dr. Jane Zucker, an assistant health commissioner with the bureau of immunization, said the confirmed cases that triggered the advisory aren't linked to "a school situation."

She noted that children are required to be vaccinated against measles before they can attend schools or day care facilities.

It's not advisable to give infants their first measles shot until age 1, but Zucker said it's important to have children vaccinated as soon as possible after age 1 to prevent them from becoming infected and spreading measles to others in the family or schools.

Zucker acknowledged that some parents have expressed concern about the measles vaccine and want to wait until their children are 3 or 4 years old. But she cautioned against such delays.

The advisory urges doctors to be alert for measles symptoms and immediately report clinically suspect cases to the department.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...nt_issues_measles_alert_.html#ixzz0KCVzqCM2&C

 

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Re: NYC: Measles outbreak

Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_return_of_measles_177690.htm

THE RETURN OF MEASLES
IT'S NOT WHERE YOU THINK

By SUSAN EDELMAN

Posted: 2:43 am
July 5, 2009

Medical officials used to worry about the outbreak of long-preventable diseases in poor, remote countries. Now they're fretting over Brooklyn.

Because of widespread but unfounded fears about vaccines, middle class children are coming down with measles, a disease virtually wiped out in the US.

For the second year in a row, New York City has seen an outbreak of the potentially deadly infection, with 11 cases in Brooklyn -- 9 children and two adults. Last year, the city had its biggest measles outbreak since the early 1990s, with 26 victims, mostly toddlers.

Several parents have told health officials they delayed recommended kids' measles vaccines at 12 months, because of debunked theories that vaccines cause autism. "There's a general sense that people just want to make sure their child's OK first," said Dr. Jane Zucker, the city's assistant commissioner for immunization. Autism usually strikes by age 3.

But waiting is dicey, because measles is especially threatening in infants. Americans have forgotten that the infection --known for its itchy red pimples -- can kill, Zucker said: "A quarter million children die around the world each year from measles."

David Kirby, a Brooklyn author of "Evidence of Harm," said most parents are "not anti-vaccine," but worry about giving their one-year-olds three vaccines at once -- for measles, mumps, and rubella. Merck & Co., which manufactures the MMR vaccine, plans to reintroduce separate doses that can be spread out. But in the meantime, by foregoing vaccines, parents are taking a bigger gamble with health of their children.