Northwestern measles epidemic patients traveled to Hawaii

On Wednesday, a measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest became more worrying. People infected with this highly contagious viral disease have traveled to Hawaii and central Oregon after being exposed.

The revelation prompted public health officials in Deschutes County, Oregon, and Hawaii to issue alerts, although no cases were confirmed at this location.

"It is feared that this will only last for a very long time, that the number of cases in the space of several weeks and months will not exceed three weeks," said Dr. Alan Melnick, director of public health of the United States. Clark County, South Washington. the epicenter of the epidemic and has a lower than normal vaccination rate.

There are 40 confirmed cases in the northwest, of which 38 are concentrated in southwestern Washington, one in Portland and one in Seattle. Thirteen other suspected cases were reported Wednesday, and some of them will likely be confirmed, Melnick said.

Officials have not yet determined the start of the measles outbreak. The first patient needed medical attention on December 31, but other sick people may not have seen a doctor or hospital, he said.

Clark County, where the first case was documented, has a vaccination rate of 78% – well below the 95% required for "collective immunity" for such a contagious virus.

Herd immunity, or community immunity, is when enough of the population is vaccinated to protect those who have not been vaccinated for medical reasons or because they are too young.

"If you have a large unvaccinated population and you add measles, one case of measles will infect 90% of the contacts, and the first symptoms are not distinguishable from other respiratory diseases – and you are contagious at this stage," he said. Melnick. .

"Basically, it's like playing a match and throwing it into a bucket of gasoline," he said.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the state of emergency following the outbreak last week and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have consulted with local and state authorities. l & # 39; State.

Two children who traveled to Hawaii were not infectious when they took the plane, said Melnick, and they were quarantined in the islands once they arrived. They have since returned home.

Among the confirmed cases, most patients were under 10 years old and at least 34 patients were not immunized. One dose of measles vaccine confers lifetime immunity of 93%; a second dose between 4 and 6 years provides immunity of 97%.

The vaccine has been part of routine childhood vaccines for decades, and measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. But it is still a serious problem in other parts of the world, and infected travelers abroad can bring back the virus and transmit it, provoking periodic epidemics.

Last year, there were 17 outbreaks and about 350 measles cases in the United States.

Before mbad immunization, 400 to 500 people in the United States died of measles each year, 50,000 people were hospitalized and 4,000 people developed brain swelling that could lead to deafness, Melnick said. One to three out of 1000 cases are fatal, he said.

People who think they have measles should contact their health care provider before reporting so that the facility can take steps to limit the exposure of others.

The first symptoms include a fever, a runny nose and discomfort, followed by a red rash that starts around the head and goes down into the body.

Patients are contagious four days before and four days after the onset of rash.

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