Measles: the number of cases in the United States is approaching the registration



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Only four months after the beginning of the year, the number of cases is more than 42, exceeding the record of 667 cases recorded in 2014, the highest number since the disease was declared. eliminated in the United States in 2000.

"In the coming weeks, 2019 confirmed cases will likely exceed 2014 levels," the agency said Monday on its website.

Iowa and Tennessee reported cases for the first time this week, bringing to 22 the total number of states reporting measles this year. Other states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Maryland. , Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

New York is the state with the highest number of cases this year; The country's health officials are trying to contain what has become the longest-running epidemic in the country since 2000. The epidemic in ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods began in October when, according to officials, a child unvaccinated was infected during his visit to Israel.

"Since then, new people from Brooklyn and Queens have been vaccinated and contracted measles in Israel, and people who have not traveled have also been infected in Brooklyn and Rockland County," the report said. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of New York City.

According to Dr. Itamar Grotto, Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, nearly 4,000 cases of measles have been reported in Israel since March 2018.

Last week, the New York City Department of Health announced that two people had contracted the disease in the UK and one in Ukraine. According to the World Health Organization, Ukraine has reported 72,000 cases of measles in the past 12 months, the highest of any country.

A New Yorker visited Michigan last month and triggered an outbreak that has now infected 41 people.

Washington State has also reported a large number of cases this year; an epidemic that began in February infected more than 70 people.

Measles is characterized by an eruption of red and flat spots. Fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes are other symptoms.

Complications, which are more likely in patients younger than 5 years and older than 20 years, may include ear infections with permanent hearing loss, diarrhea, pneumonia and swelling of the brain. Pregnant women with measles run the risk of giving birth prematurely and having a low birth weight baby.

According to the CDC, one or two out of every 1,000 people who contract measles will die, although the disease has not died in the United States since 2015.

Are you protected from measles? It may depend on your date of birth

A person can spread the disease four days before and four days after the development of the rash and can therefore transmit it without knowing it. The virus can be suspended in the air and spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

"Measles is so contagious that if a person is infected, almost 90% of those close to that person who are not immunized will also be infected," according to the CDC.

A person who has had measles or who has been inoculated is immune. Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are recommended. The CDC recommends that the first dose be administered to children aged 12 to 15 months and the second dose to children aged 4 to 6, although it can be given as early as 28 days after the first dose.

One dose is 93% effective at preventing disease and two doses are 97% effective.

The city of New York last month declared a public health emergency requiring vaccination, evidence of immunity or proof of exemption as part of efforts to contain the epidemic in the region .

For people living in postcodes affected by the outbreak, babies 6 to 11 months old should receive an early dose of MMR vaccine, followed by a recommendation of two doses. Children under 4 must receive a second dose without waiting to be 4 years old.

"Anyone born after January 1, 1957, who has not received two doses of a vaccine containing the measles virus, or who is not undergoing a blood test proving that she is already immune." against measles, should receive two doses of MMR vaccine "it's noted.

Health officials said the proliferation of anti-vaccine rhetoric had, in part, led to an increase in the number of measles cases and other vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States.

A source close to the measles situation in the United States told CNN that of the 626 measles cases reported in 2019, 72% were not vaccinated and 18% had unknown vaccine status. Among those who are not vaccinated, this may be due to their personal beliefs and medical reasons. The remaining 10% were vaccinated with one or two doses.

Of the 626 cases, 487 involve persons aged 19 or younger.

Measles is endemic in many countries other than the United States. It is introduced into the country when unvaccinated or under-vaccinated people visit a place where the virus is circulating or when people living in the United States go to such a place and come back with an infection.

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