New measles outbreak in Washington infects 22 people

A measles outbreak in Washington State infected 22 people, mostly children under 10, during the second major outbreak of the disease in the United States since September.

Health officials in Clark County, Washington, north of Portland, Oregon, said 17 cases of the epidemic involved children under 10, and four others aged 11 to 18 years. At least 19 of the patients were not immunized against measles.

Officials told CNN that an infected patient had attended a Portland Trail Blazers home game last week, while others had gone to airports, schools, churches and restaurants.

The Clark County measles outbreak comes just four months after New York State registered 167 measles cases in September, one of the worst epidemics in the United States in decades. An epidemic is usually defined as three or more cases related to measles infections.

The first three weeks of 2019 have already seen 22 infections in Washington, one new case per day. At this rate, this year would exceed 2018 in terms of measles infections. The reasons for the increase in new cases of measles are related to the increasing number of trips to areas where measles is more prevalent, as well as to the vulnerability of American communities where people choose not to vaccinate their families against measles. disease.

"In a given year, more cases of measles may occur for one of the following reasons: an increase in the number of travelers who catch measles abroad and bring it to the United States and / or measles in American communities with pockets of people, "said the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the CDC, 2018 was the second worst year for measles cases since 2000. Last year, 17 outbreaks resulted in 349 infections. Many of them occurred in New York and New Jersey after unvaccinated people returned to their homes after traveling to Israel, where a major outbreak was taking place.

"Eighty-one people brought measles to the United States from other countries in 2018," says a CDC fact sheet. "This is the largest number of cases imported since the elimination of measles in the United States in 2000."