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In May, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Health Commissioner Dr Oxiris Barbot declared the end of the public health emergency announced in April, warning that the threat had not been met. faded away.
"There may be no more local transmission of measles in New York, but the threat remains," said Dr. Barbot. "Our best defense against a renewed transmission is to have a well-immunized city."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributed the US outbreak to international travelers who carried the virus, which made communities ill with low vaccination rates.
By 12 September, the CDC had confirmed 1,241 individual cases of measles, including about 83% in New York, although it had previously stated that measles had been eliminated from the United States.
RELATED: What is the vaccination rate of your school? | Explore our interactive map
"Measles is very highly infectious and spreads very easily from one person to another," said Dr. Roberto Posada, an infectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai. "So, you need high vaccination levels in a community."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, before the development and widespread use of measles vaccine, millions of people were sick each year. Many were hospitalized and hundreds died.
"People today do not remember the severity of measles, because children can die," said Dr. Posada.
In New York, the Ministry of Health reported that 95% of people with measles were unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated or had unknown vaccine status.
In addition, health officials said that 80% of those infected in New York were under 18 years old.
The World Health Organization recommends that the community maintain a vaccination rate of about 95% in order to effectively combat the threat of the measles outbreak.
"It's almost everyone," said Dr. Posada. "Many people should not vaccinate their children so that the rate falls below 95%, and then the whole community is at risk."
In response to the recommendation that communities maintain a 95% vaccination rate, 7 on Your Side Investigates teamed up with ABC-owned television channels from coast to coast to coast as part of A data survey "Return of Measles" to identify communities and specific schools around the country where immunization / immunity rates had dropped below 95% until the recent outbreak.
7 On Your Side Investigates examined the immunization and exemption rates examined in the tri-state region for measles vaccine at the school, district and county levels. information available on an interactive map.
RELATED: New York parents plan to challenge vaccination deadline | 7 on your side investigation
In New York, we found that an increasing number of students obtaining religious and medical exemptions for vaccination between the 2010-2011 and 2017-2018 school year, the last year for which data were available.
"I just believe that they were born with a God-given immune system and I believe it's sacred and that it should not be bothered by human or toxic chemicals. "said Cathy Orofino, whose three boys have benefited from religious exemptions to vaccination until 2019. -20 school year, when a new state has passed in reaction to the outbreak has entered effective by eliminating exemptions for reasons other than medical reasons.
According to data from the New York State Department of Health, the number of students enjoying a religious exemption during the 2017-2018 school year has reached 26,627, an increase of nearly 90% compared to the 2010-2011 school year.
The number of students enjoying a medical exemption also increased to 4,571, an increase of 36%.
In New Jersey, one in three schools responding to an annual national survey of school vaccination reported vaccination rates of less than 95%.
In Connecticut and New York, just over one in 10 schools reported vaccination rates below 95%.
In Rockland County and Brooklyn, two regions primarily affected by the epidemic, the number of schools falling below a vaccination rate of less than 95% was above the New York average.
In Rockland County, nearly two out of five schools reported vaccination rates below 95% and in Brooklyn, nearly one in four schools reported vaccination rates of less than 95%.
RELATED: 7 On Your Side investigates unvaccinated students quarantined in New York schools
"It's terrifying," said Cheryl Apostle, a mother of two fully vaccinated children who are entering school. "Even if you want to protect them from everything, you're so limited and sickness is one of them, and that's one of those things I always have control over, so I'm going to do everything I can We do not understand, if you can vaccinate, why would not you do it? For us, it's a no-brainer. "
Note: It was difficult to compare schools in the three states. We had to rely on data from the 2017-2018 school year, the only school year for which comparable data were provided by the three states.
In addition, reports vary by school and state. In Connecticut, for example, state health officials report only vaccination rates in some kindergarten and grade 7 schools. In addition, Connecticut announced that it is maintaining vaccination rates for some schools with low levels of education to protect the privacy of students.
New York City reports vaccination rates in public schools by district and, despite repeated requests, has not provided individual school data to Eyewitness News. Public school rates by district are indicated on the interactive map.
New Jersey reported vaccination rates by county. These numbers are also shown on the map.
A website of the state health department allows to search school by school some municipalities, but due to time constraints and desire to provide this information as quickly as possible, we could not obtain individual data for all schools. The specific schools for which we were able to obtain information are included in the map.
Since data provided by state officials are often rate-based, comparisons across jurisdictions are estimates.
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