Measles Cases Hit 33-Year High
With illnesses reported in at least 38 states and the District of Columbia, experts worry that measles may be here to stay, after being declared ‘eliminated’ in 2000.
“The increased spread means that measles in the community could be an ever-present threat, not just confined to outbreaks,” says Peter Chin-Hong, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. “If the measles outbreak lasts for more than 12 months — which it is looking like it will in West Texas and New Mexico — it will be very probable that we will no longer consider measles eliminated in the U.S., because prolonged transmission of measles will continue, fueled by this very large outbreak.”
Elimination in the context of measles does not mean zero cases, but rather that transmission is at low enough levels to not be a major public health threat, notes Dr. Chin-Hong.
Tina Tan, MD, the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and a pediatric infectious disease physician at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, predicts that cases will continue to rise, especially during the summer months when people tend to travel.
“Measles is extraordinarily transmissible, so even if you’re standing next to an infected person at a bus stop or sitting next to a sick person in a car or plane, you can get the illness,” says Dr. Tan.
The authors of the CDC report stressed that measles outbreaks are becoming more frequent, especially in close-knit communities where vaccination rates are lower.
But the JAMA study estimates that a 10 percent decline in the vaccination rate could lead to more than 11 million people becoming infected with the virus over a 25-year period.
“This is the highest number of measles cases since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 and the most we have seen since 1992,” says Carlos del Rio, MD, a distinguished professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. ”The cause is clear: declining vaccination rates.”
Tan warns against a wealth of misinformation that has spread online regarding vaccines.
“Since the pandemic, vaccine hesitancy and vaccine skepticism have skyrocketed, because of all the anti-science information that circulates very rapidly on social media,” she says. “The fact is, this vaccine is very safe, very effective, and really is the only way you’re going to be able to protect you and your family against getting measles.”
The measles vaccine is highly effective and safe, and because there are no antiviral medications to treat measles, immunization offers the best protection, according to Chin-Hong.
Teens and adults are advised to check with their healthcare provider to make sure they are up to date on their MMR vaccination.
Most people who have received two doses of the MMR vaccine do not need a measles booster shot, but some specific individuals may benefit, such as those who have undergone certain treatments for cancer and have lost some immunity. Adults born between 1963 and 1967 should check with their healthcare provider to make sure that they have immunity, as one formulation of the measles vaccine administered during that time period is considered less effective.
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