US: Measles 2013- cases may be most in 17 years

[Shiloh]

Source: http://pediatrics.about.com/b/2013/06/26/another-measles-update-another-record-year.htm

Another Measles Update - Another Record Year
By Vincent Iannelli, M.D., About.com GuideJune 26, 2013

We aren't hearing much about measles this year.

That certainly isn't because it isn't around. So far this year, there have been 107 cases (118 provisional cases) of measles in the United States. That puts us close to where we were in 2011 at this time of year (118) and as many people remember, that ended up being a record year for measles outbreaks. With a year-end total of 220 cases, more cases were reported in 2011 than since 1996.

Will we have another record year in 2013?...

 

[Shiloh]

Re: US: Measles 2013- cases may be most in 17 years

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/health/worst-measles-year/?hpt=he_c1

U.S. measles cases in 2013 may be most in 17 years
By Elizabeth Cohen, Senior Medical Correspondent
updated 1:27 PM EDT, Thu September 12, 2013

Those who choose not to vaccinate put other people's babies at risk, experts say.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

159 cases of measles in the United States from January 1 through August 24
Last highest year was 2011, when there were 222 cases
Nearly two-thirds of cases happened in communities where many people don't vaccinate
Nearly 40% of children under the age of five who get measles have to be hospitalized

(CNN) -- This year is on track to be the worst for measles in more than a decade, according to new numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And people who refuse to vaccinate their children are behind the increasing number of outbreaks, health officials say.

There were 159 cases of measles in the United States from January 1 through August 24, according to the CDC. If that trend continues, there will be more cases in 2013 than in any year since 1996, when some 500 cases were reported. The number would also surpass that of 2011, when there were 222 cases...

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: US: Measles 2013- cases may be most in 17 years

Measles Cases On the Rise in US, Experts Encourage Vaccine

Sep. 13, 2013 ? Prior to the use of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination, hundreds of those infected with the measles would die yearly, tens of thousands would be hospitalized and around 1,000 cases would result in chronic disability. Decades later, after believing that endemic transmission of this highly contagious illness was eradicated in the United States in 2000, cases are on the rise again, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

?It is heartbreaking to watch something happen that is completely preventable,? said David Kimberlin, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham professor of pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatrics? liaison to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The CDC reports 159 cases between Jan. 1 and Aug. 24, 2013, with 82 percent of the cases in unvaccinated persons, and 9 percent with unknown vaccination status. Ninety-nine percent of the cases were import-related.

More: Science Daily