U.S. reports biggest measles outbreak since 2001

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Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0141448220080501?sp=true

U.S. reports biggest measles outbreak since 2001
Thu May 1, 2008 1:07pm EDT

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The biggest U.S. outbreak of measles since 2001 is unfolding in 10 states, with at least 64 people ranging from infants to the elderly becoming ill -- most of them unvaccinated, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.

None of those who contracted the highly contagious viral illness has died, although 14 people have been hospitalized, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Fifty-nine of the 64 people confirmed to have measles were U.S. residents, and 54 of those sickened "were associated with importation of measles from other countries" including Switzerland, Israel, Belgium, India, Italy and likely China, the CDC said.

All but one of those who got measles were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, the CDC said. "These cases and outbreaks resulted primarily from failure to vaccinate, many because of personal or religious belief exemption," the CDC said.

"Transmission has occurred in community and health care settings, including homes, child care centers, schools, hospitals, emergency rooms and physicians' offices," the CDC said in a statement.

The ages of those sickened ranged from 5 months to 71 years, the CDC said.

Before a vaccine was introduced in the United States in 1963, more than half a million people caught measles every year in the United States and 500 died.

(Editing by Xavier Briand)

 

[Commonground]

Re: U.S. reports biggest measles outbreak since 2001

May 2, 2008
US reports biggest measles outbreak since 2001
WASHINGTON - THE biggest US outbreak of measles since 2001 is unfolding in 10 states, with at least 72 people ranging from infants to the elderly becoming ill - most of them unvaccinated, US health officials said on Thursday.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said said none of those who caught the highly contagious viral illness has died, but at least 14 people have been hospitalised, most with pneumonia triggered by measles.

There were 116 cases in 2001, and the last major US outbreak occurred from 1989 to 1991, when 55,000 people got measles and 123 died.

Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases, said she expects 'many more cases this year than we had in 2001 based on what's going on today'.

Public health officials have been stressing the importance of immunising children in the face of increasingly vocal groups who object to vaccines for religious reasons or because they think the shots may cause autism or other problems.

CDC officials said overwhelming scientific evidence points to the safety of the combined measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, shot and other childhood vaccines.

'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 outbreaks in the United States,' said Jane Seward of the CDC's division of viral diseases.

The CDC said most of the measles cases can be traced to 10 people who picked up the disease overseas and then traveled back to the United States, where others became infected. The ages of those sickened ranged from 5 months to 71 years.

Global problem
'These cases and outbreaks resulted primarily from failure to vaccinate, many because of personal or religious belief exemption,' the agency said in a statement.

The CDC said 64 cases were reported from Jan 1 through April 25 in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Eight more confirmed cases - all involving unvaccinated children in one family who had attended a church gathering in the Seattle area - have been reported since then in Washington state, the state department of health said on Thursday.

Those spreading measles were infected in Switzerland and Israel, both of which have larger outbreaks, as well as in India, Belgium, Italy and likely China and Japan, the CDC said.

'Transmission has occurred in community and health care settings, including homes, child care centers, schools, hospitals, emergency rooms and physicians' offices,' it said.

The disease causes fever, cough, redness and irritation of the eyes and a rash. Serious complications include encephalitis and pneumonia that can be fatal. Measles remains a leading cause of death among children in poor countries, killing about 250,000 people a year globally.

Before a vaccine was introduced in 1963, more than half a million people got measles in the United States and 500 died annually. Thanks to the vaccination programme, measles is no longer endemic in the United States, and ongoing transmission of the virus was declared eliminated in 2000.

The annual number of cases since then generally has been in the dozens and caused by someone infected in another country. -- REUTERS

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