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Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, health commissioner of a county in a suburb of New York, feels "outdated".
Since October, she has fought hard to stop one of the worst measles outbreaks in the United States in 20 years.
Among his daily battles: constantly having to repeat that the vaccine did not cause other diseases, that it did not lead to autism and that the use of fetal tissue to produce the vaccine had ended several decades ago.
Pushing back this "junk food science" absorbs much of its energy as it strives to educate and persuade the 300,000 people of Rockland County to cooperate with health and safety authorities. alert them to any new cases of illness.
In 27 years of practicing medicine, said Ruppert, it is "one of the most difficult health crises I have had to face".
Friday, measles – officially eliminated from the United States in 2000 – had hit 167 people in this county along the Hudson River, including nine new cases this week.
Of the six regional measles outbreaks reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the largest public health institute in the United States, Rockland County is the most concentrated.
And yet, the county has not run out of resources to tackle the problem.
Unprecedented measures
Since October, each case has been systematically studied to determine how many people have been exposed to the ultra-contagious virus.
Exposed people are then contacted to make sure they have been immunized and, if they have not been, they are then vaccinated.
Dozens of free vaccination clinics have been held in the county – including a Friday in the city of Haverstraw – with 17,654 doses of vaccine administered to date. The goal is to raise the vaccination rate of the current 72%, said Ruppert. A vaccination rate of 95% is considered necessary to prevent epidemics. On Monday, county officials will meet with law and health professionals to identify potential new strategies to fight the epidemic.
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