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In the United States, the number of confirmed measles cases increased by almost 20% during the week ended April 11, the country's second-worst epidemic in nearly two decades, federal officials said Monday. health.
As of April 11, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recorded 555 cases of the disease since the beginning of the year, against 465 confirmed cases on April 4. The cases were discovered in 20 states of the country.
The measles virus is highly contagious and can lead to complications and death, especially in children. The CDC report does not say if there were any deaths.
The US outbreak is part of a global increase. The World Health Organization reported Monday that the number of cases worldwide had almost quadrupled in the first quarter of 2019 to reach 112,163 over the same period last year.
In the United States, a growing body of parents is opposed to vaccines, convinced, contrary to scientific evidence, that their ingredients can cause autism or other disorders.
Five parents filed a lawsuit in the New York state court against the city's health department on Monday, calling for an end to emergency ordinances requiring measles vaccine on the grounds that it goes to court. against their religious beliefs.
"The evidence of a measles epidemic or a dangerous epidemic is insufficient to justify the extraordinary measures of the respondents, including forced vaccination," says the trial, identifying the parents only by their initials.
The city's health department did not respond to requests for comment.
New York City has confirmed 329 cases of measles since October, including 44 since last week 's emergency stop, according to local health officials, a large majority among the children of Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn. Six of the 44 additional cases have recently been diagnosed, while the remaining 38 have recently been discovered, the New York Department of Health said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's epidemic was a public health emergency last week and ordered unvaccinated people in the affected areas of Brooklyn to be vaccinated or fined. This is the worst epidemic seen in the city since 1991, said the mayor.
Several people had to be hospitalized, but no deaths had been reported last week.
Health officials in New York City said that the Brooklyn outbreak was caused by an unvaccinated child returning from a trip to Israel, which was also battling an outbreak.
Another epidemic has affected orthodox Jewish families in Rockland County, New York. Last month, the authorities banned children who were not vaccinated against measles.
A state judge quashed the order, but Rockland appealed that decision.
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