According to the CDC, the number of measles cases in the United States has already reached more than 1,000 in 2019

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that 1,001 cases of measles have been reported in the United States so far in 2019.

This number is almost certain to continue climbing in the second half. Last week, the CDC warned that the number of measles cases in the United States had reached its highest level in 25 years – with more reported measles infections than any year since 1994, when 958 cases occurred. The CDC said at the time that if epidemics continued to spread, the United States might lose the elimination status they had held since 2000, when the agency had said that measles had actually been eradicated in the country because of "the lack of continued transmission of the disease for a greater less than 12 months."

According to CNN, more than half of the states have reported cases so far in 2019. But most of them have occurred in the state of New York, with major outbreaks having mostly affected orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in the New York boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens (566 since September 2018). , according to the New York City Department of Health), as well as in Rockland County, further north. Nearly 700 cases reported this year are in New York. CNN added that Clark County, Washington, was the second largest home, with more than 70 cases, while another outbreak of 44 cases in Michigan (all but four in County of Oakland) had recently been declared under control by health officials.

Measles was once a terror, with the CDC estimating that three to four million people in the United States were infected each year before a vaccine was released in 1963, resulting in 48,000 hospitalizations and 400 to 500 deaths a year. Nearly all children had a measles infection at the age of 15 years.

In 2014, the CDC estimated that vaccinations administered to children born in the 20 years since the launch of the 1994 childhood immunization program had resulted in the arrest of 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths among children. during their lives. This program was partially launched in response to hundreds of deaths from the measles virus during the years 1989-1991.

The well-established view of the medical and scientific community, reiterated over countless studies, is that vaccines are safe and effective. One of the main factors in the resurgence of measles has been the decline in vaccination rates, including the lack of a medical visit to the doctor (for some reasons, perhaps due to lack of access) and the worrying growth in the number of measles cases. people requesting non-medical exemptions.

The non-medical exemption rate appears to be related to anti-vaxxers, a movement of anti-government plot theorists who subscribe to many false claims about vaccines, including the fact that they cause a range of ailments ranging from autism to non-governmental diseases. Existing conditions such as "vaccine overload". Reports have indicated that anti-vaxxers have been alarmingly organized in recent years, in part because of the ease with which misinformation is spreading on social media sites.

The members of the movement staged a rally in the state of Washington to oppose a law limiting exemptions for non-medical vaccines early in the year. (Most of the time, legislators have decided not to remove the exemptions for mumps, measles and rubella vaccines.) Other reports have indicated that a small but dedicated group of anti-vax organizations National anti-vax, had blanketed some of the affected neighborhoods in New York with propaganda leaflets.

In the CDC press release, Health and Social Services Secretary Alex Azar said the US health authorities "have the ultimate goal of ending the epidemic and spreading false information about people. vaccines ".

"We can not say it enough: vaccines are a safe and extremely effective public health tool, able to prevent this disease and put an end to the current epidemic," said Azar. "The measles vaccine is one of the most studied medical products and is administered safely to millions of children and adults each year. Measles is an extremely contagious and dangerous disease. I encourage all Americans to talk to your doctor about recommended vaccines to protect you and your family and community against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases. "