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A county in the northern suburbs of New York has banned unvaccinated children under the age of 18 from visiting public places, as New York State battles the worst measles outbreak ever seen in the United States. decades, local authorities said on Tuesday.
Rockland County, located about 40 miles north of Manhattan, has had more than 150 measles cases since October. A majority of those infected are minors who have not been vaccinated, according to local health authorities. The ban starts on Tuesday at midnight and will last 30 days. Public spaces covered by the ban include schools, restaurants, businesses, shopping centers and places of worship.
Parents and guardians will be held responsible if a violation is found and their case will be returned to the prosecutor's office, according to the authorities. "The circumstances we face here clearly justify it," said Ed Day, Rockland County leader, at a news conference. "We will not sit idly by while the children in our community are in danger."
Rockland is one of many counties in the state that are experiencing the longest measles outbreak since the announcement of the elimination of the disease in the United States in 2000. It began in the summer. last fall when a child from the region returned from a trip to Israel, where a battle against measles had been going on for months. State and municipal health departments urged parents to vaccinate their children as early as possible, even before the expected age of one year.
Measles is spread easily and can be dangerous for anyone who is not vaccinated, especially young children and pregnant women. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one in two children infected with measles in 1,000 will die from serious complications. In 2018, 17 outbreaks and 349 cases were reported in 27 jurisdictions in the United States. A low vaccination rate is widely regarded as the reason for recent epidemics.
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