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Measles – a highly contagious virus that can cause high fever, rashes, bumps, swelling of the brain and even death – spreads among unvaccinated populations around the world.
Around the world, unvaccinated people, from Brooklyn to New York to northern Madagascar, are discovering how invasive and contagious the virus can be in the absence of vaccination.
the Reports of the World Health Organization the number of cases in the world is up 300% this year compared to the same period last year. In the United States, the official number of cases in 2019 Monday was 555 people, well above the total of 372 cases in 2018 for the entire year.
"Measles is a very contagious disease," said Business Insider Robert Amler, Dean of the New York Medical College and former Chief Medical Officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Where there are susceptible populations – that is, unvaccinated people who have not received natural immunity to a real infection with the wild virus – where there is find these populations, the measles virus will find them. "
Measles kills unvaccinated children
Measles struck children in orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York. The New York Times reported Monday that at least one kindergarten was closed and more than 320 people had become ill. The outbreak follows another epidemic that began in January in the Pacific Northwest and left at least 73 people sick, most of whom are unvaccinated children under 10 years of age.
Measles is also disgusting and kills babies and children in the unimmunized areas of Madagascar, where more than 117,075 people have contracted the virus since October. The measles outbreak is the largest ever recorded in the country, but this does not happen as people are reluctant to vaccinate their children. it is rather because they do not have good access to vaccines or can not afford them.
The WHO reports that at least 1,205 people in Madagascar died from measles during this outbreak.
"My child had been vaccinated and had received the first injection, but he died because we could not afford to get him for the second injection," a Madagascan fisherman told Reuters Dada. , through the intermediary of a translator. "I could not afford to take her to the public hospital, so I took her to a corner to get the injection."
The family's grief goes even further: Dada's sister, Pela Manty, recently lost two of her children to the measles virus.
"We did not expect that they would not be vaccinated would kill them," she said.
Other parents in Madagascar are lining up to vaccinate their children. One dose of measles vaccine is about 93% effective in preventing measles, while full two-dose treatment protects people in 97% of cases.
Although no measles deaths have yet been reported in the United States this year, Amler said that access to good medical care should not be the reason why anyone chose to give up their vaccines.
"Do you really want to put your child's life in danger, in the hope that your child will be saved by medical care?" He asked. "It seems like a rather backward argument to say," It is normal for my child to get measles because he is less likely to die. "I would like to have a 0% chance of dying from measles, especially since measles can be prevented."
Who should be vaccinated against measles and who should not
Most people born after 1956 should be aware of their measles vaccines. People born before January 1, 1957 are considered to be naturally immunized because they have almost certainly been exposed to the virus as children, even if they do not remember it.
The MMR vaccine (standard measles, mumps and rubella vaccine) is normally given to children before the age of 7 years. An extra dose will not hurt people already immunized against measles. If you can not confirm that you have received both doses of measles vaccine, you can get another one.
But the measles vaccine is not for everyone.
Pregnant women, babies under 6 months of age and people with fragile immune systems, such as cancer and HIV, should not receive the vaccine. These people rely more on others to get vaccinated, so the immunity of the herd prevents measles from spreading within a community. Remember that if only one person has measles, 90% of the unprotected people around them will have it.
According to Mr. Amler, more and more people in the United States are not getting vaccinated because some younger caregivers do not actively fear infectious diseases that are almost eradicated, such as measles. had never seen before. This was not the case a generation ago, when parents easily remembered the crippling effects of a virus like measles.
"When wild measles was raging and there was no control available, everyone – just about everyone who was born – would eventually catch measles," Amler said. "The vast majority would survive, but it would leave a trail of deafness, blindness, chronic pneumonia and, in some cases, brain swelling and death."
Some of these rare and debilitating side effects remain with children throughout their lives.
"I would be the last to scare my fellow citizens," said Amler. "I do not think it's a very ethical thing to do, but the reality is that in the absence of vaccination, measles will reappear and come back, and with insufficient immunization coverage in a population, we puts all in danger. "
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