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This message was sent as a service of The Seattle Times (http://www.seattletimes.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CDC fears major measles outbreak Full story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004387288_measles02.html By Deborah L. Shelton Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO -- Federal health officials warned Thursday that the United States could be on the verge of a major outbreak of measles. The official tally of measles cases between Jan. 1 and April 25 was 64, the highest in recent years, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. That count doesn't include Washington state, where eight cases were reported this week. Those cases stemmed from an international church conference in suburban Seattle in March, according to the state health department. Most of the cases have been traced to outbreaks overseas and are mainly in children who were not vaccinated for religious or other reasons or were too young, according to the CDC. Since measles vaccinations began in the early 1960s, cases have dramatically declined in the U.S. While the numbers seem small, two developments could set the stage for a major resurgence in this country: an increase in the numbers of people choosing not to get vaccinated and outbreaks of the disease in Israel and Europe, CDC officials said. "I think the principal difference this year is the extent of outbreaks in Europe," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "The second factor is ... we are in a very different era right now where many doctors, nurses and parents are not familiar with measles, where people can seek medical care for something and transmission can occur because we don't take all the precautions that we would have." The 64 cases this year were in nine states. There were no deaths, but 14 people were hospitalized, CDC spokesman Curtis Allen said. U.S. residents accounted for 59 of the 64 cases. Officials think all but 10 cases were either acquired overseas or linked to a chain of transmission that originated in another country. Measles is caused by a virus that normally grows in cells that line the lungs and the back of the throat. It spreads through contact with a sneezing, coughing, infected person. Symptoms include rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. But about 1 in 5 measles patients experiences illness that can include diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia, encephalitis, and even seizures and death. Thirteen of the U.S. cases were children younger than 1; children usually don't get their first measles shot until they're at least 1 because their immune systems are considered too immature to produce the needed response. Such children can easily pick up infections from those around them, said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of Vanderbilt University's department of preventive medicine. This year's measles cases are the most since 2001, when 116 cases were reported, according to CDC records. The worst year for measles was 1958, according to modern public-health records. More than 763,000 cases were reported that year, including 552 deaths. Outbreaks in the early 1990s led to a revision of vaccination guidelines to include children younger than school age. The measles vaccine is 99 percent effective. ~
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Jaxon’s |
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Jaxon’s Cure P O Box 152 Port Orchard, WA 98366 360.876.2837
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Mission Statement Jaxon’s Cure is a non-profit organization specifically established to raise awareness and find a cure for Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare degenerative disease of the central nervous system caused by an altered form of the measles virus. Funds raised will be directed towards research, cure development, and awareness on all issues related to SSPE. |
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REUTERS REPORT
U.S. reports biggest measles outbreak since 2001 Thu May 01 19:55:26 UTC 2008 (Updates number with measles, adds CDC news conference) By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The biggest U.S. outbreak of measles since 2001 is unfolding in 10 states, with at least 72 people ranging from infants to the elderly becoming ill -- most of them unvaccinated, U.S. health officials said Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said said none of those who caught the highly contagious viral illness has died, but at least 14 people have been hospitalized, most with pneumonia triggered by measles. There were 116 cases in 2001, and the last major U.S. outbreak occurred from 1989 to 1991, when 55,000 people got measles and 123 died. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said she expects "many more cases this year than we had in 2001 based on what's going on today." Public health officials have been stressing the importance of immunizing children in the face of increasingly vocal groups who object to vaccines for religious reasons or because they think the shots may cause autism or other problems. CDC officials said overwhelming scientific evidence points to the safety of the combined measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, shot and other childhood vaccines. "We are concerned ... about the population of people who are choosing not to be vaccinated, and whether we may be on the verge of facing larger-scale outbreaks in the United States," said Jane Seward of the CDC's division of viral diseases. The CDC said most of the measles cases can be traced to 10 people who picked up the disease overseas and then traveled back to the United States, where others became infected. The ages of those sickened ranged from 5 months to 71 years.
GLOBAL PROBLEM "These cases and outbreaks resulted primarily from failure to vaccinate, many because of personal or religious belief exemption," the agency said in a statement. The CDC said 64 cases were reported from Jan 1 through April 25 in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Eight more confirmed cases -- all involving unvaccinated children in one family who had attended a church gathering in the Seattle area -- have been reported since then in Washington state, the state department of health said Thursday. Those spreading measles were infected in Switzerland and Israel, both of which have larger outbreaks, as well as in India, Belgium, Italy and likely China and Japan, the CDC said. "Transmission has occurred in community and health care settings, including homes, child care centers, schools, hospitals, emergency rooms and physicians' offices," it said The disease causes fever, cough, redness and irritation of the eyes and a rash. Serious complications include encephalitis and pneumonia that can be fatal. Measles remains a leading cause of death among children in poor countries, killing about 250,000 people a year globally. Before a vaccine was introduced in 1963, more than half a million people got measles in the United States and 500 died annually. Thanks to the vaccination program, measles is no longer endemic in the United States, and ongoing transmission of the virus was declared eliminated in 2000. The annual number of cases since then generally has been in the dozens and caused by someone infected in another country. (Editing by Maggie Fox and Xavier Briand) ~ |
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