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NEW YORK – US health authorities reported Thursday that 971 measles cases had been recorded this year, the highest number in 27 years, and experts say it is unclear when the wave of disease will end.
Measles, once common in the United States, became rare after the vaccination campaigns that began in the 1960s. Ten years ago, there were less than 100 cases per year.
The new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pushed the United States to exceed the 963 reported diseases in 1994. The country last recorded this number of cases in 1992, while more than 2,200 were reported. reported.
Overall immunization rates remained quite high, but outbreaks occurred in communities where parents refused the recommended vaccines, US health officials said.
"The lack of vaccination is at the root of these outbreaks," said Dr. Mark Roberts, chair of the directorate of health policy and management at the Graduate School of Public Health's 39, University of Pittsburgh.
Disease cases have been reported in 26 states, but the vast majority are in New York.
The epidemic that began last October in the city is already the largest local outbreak of measles in the United States for almost 30 years. It all began when unvaccinated children traveled to Israel, where a measles outbreak is occurring, to return to New York.
More than 500 cases have been diagnosed in two neighborhoods in Brooklyn – Williamsburg and Borough Park – and mostly among unvaccinated children of Orthodox Jewish communities. Forty-two were hospitalized, including 12 treated in intensive care units.
More than 25,000 doses of vaccine have been given to children and adolescents in these two neighborhoods since October.
Some were motivated by a municipal order in April that says all children and adults living in four Brooklyn postal codes are vaccinated or face a fine of up to $ 1,000. City officials said 123 people had been summoned for failing to comply with the order.
The city's health service mobilized 400 people to fight the epidemic and forged new relationships with community organizations to better advocate for immunization needs.
The officials believe that everything is paying off. The new measles diagnoses increased from 173 last month to 60 this month.
"I am convinced that the work we have put in place (…) has put us on the right track to put an end to this epidemic," said Dr. Oxiris Barbot, Health Commissioner of New City. York.
Some health experts consider the current outbreak as a sign that other diseases preventable by vaccination could worsen.
"Measles is incredibly contagious," said CDC director Robert Redfield in a statement. "We must act together now to end this epidemic before the consequences are even more serious."
In most people, measles causes fever, runny nose, cough, and rash all over the body. However, a very small fraction of those infected can suffer complications such as pneumonia and dangerous swelling of the brain. According to the CDC, for every 1,000 children with measles, one or two will die. No deaths have been reported this year.
The CDC recommends a combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine for all people over one year old, with the exception of people with the disease while they were children. Those who have had measles are immune.
The worst year for measles in modern US history was 1958, with more than 763,000 cases reported and 552 deaths. The number of cases dropped significantly after the development of a vaccine in the 1960s and, in 1983, the annual number of cases rose to less than 1,500.
But the disease rebounded in the late 1980s, with many cases among young unvaccinated black and Hispanic children living in inner cities.
In 1990, more than 27,000 cases were reported, including about 90 deaths.
During the resurgence, public health officials began recommending children to receive two doses of vaccine instead of one. Cases began to fall and dropped after the creation in 1993 of a federal program providing vaccines to children whose parents or guardians can not afford to pay for them.
Will this year's measles cases reach the levels of the early 1990s? The answer may be negative for several reasons.
Global vaccination levels are higher at the national level today.
In addition, measles cases have always peaked in the spring for an unknown reason, and summer is almost here. Perhaps this trend will continue this year as well, said Dr. Peter Hotez, infectious disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine.
But experts have been surprised by the current epidemic and believe that some recent developments make forecasting difficult.
Some evoke a social media-based anti-vaccine movement that played a major role in the Brooklyn epidemic.
In addition, the risks of contracting measles from other countries are steadily increasing. According to the World Health Organization, 82,500 cases of measles were reported last year, three times more than the year before.
Dr. Tom Clark, CDC, said that even though the outbreak in New York was continuing, this year's case count should not exceed the 1992 mark.
Hotez seemed worried.
"How will all this happen in the next few months, we do not know," he said.
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