Measles cases surge in California and across the U.S. Did anti-vaxxers contribute?
Measles is back, and with a vengeance.
The United States is among the countries with measles outbreaks. Through Nov. 7, more than 1,260 cases have been reported in 31 states — the highest number in the past 25 years.
In 2018, worldwide measles killed 140,000 people, mostly children younger than 5, according to a new report from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention on behalf of the Measles & Rubella Initiative.
This includes 72 cases in California, according to the California Department of Public Health. The last large outbreak in the state involved 131 Californians and occurred from 2014-2015 and was associated with Disneyland.
Stanislaus County is an exception.
“We have had no measles cases in the county in the past year,” said Dr. Julie Vaishampayan, public health officer for the county’s Health Services Agency.
“We’re a well-vaccinated community,” said Vaishampayan. “Immunizations are seen as a good way to protect yourself.”
She said that 95.9% of kindergartners in Stanislaus County are up-to-date on their vaccines. Stanislaus County kindergarten immunization rates have been consistently higher than the state rate for more than five years, including before passage of SB277 mandating vaccines for attending school.
Stanislaus County reported a possible measles exposure at an all-star high school basketball game in Turlock, but no cases came from it. But at least 15 measles cases occurred within a 90-minute drive of Modesto.
Those 15 cases include three from Sacramento, five from Santa Clara and six from San Mateo counties. No cases were reported from Fresno, San Luis Obispo or Merced counties. Los Angeles County had the most cases, at 22.
Globally, 2019 is looking even more grim than 2018. By mid-November 2019, 413,000 cases were reported to health officials, compared to about 350,000 cases in 2018. Many of the cases have occurred in war-torn or low-resource countries, such as Somalia and Ukraine .
Samoa, part of which is a U.S. territory, has one of the largest measles outbreaks, with more than 3,800 children affected and 55 deaths on the island with a population the size of Modesto.
Why are measles cases increasing?
The report released Thursday cited global travel and disruption in health services due to armed conflicts as contributors to the increase.
Anti-vaccine sentiment is also a factor.
“WHO has named ‘mistrust of vaccines’ as one of the greatest health threats of 2019,” said Vaishampayan.
Ironically, vaccines are a victim of their own success.
Current generations of American parents, even grandparents were vaccinated, and they haven’t seen measles, polio, tetanus or other vaccine-preventable infections. This has helped to fuel mistrust of the vaccines, as well as allowed the spread of misinformation, especially about the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.
The CDC reported that parents not vaccinating their children has accounted for many of the cases. They noted that some parents forego vaccines because of concerns about vaccine safety and others see requiring immunizations for school entry as an infringement upon parental rights.
Although scientific research has debunked reports of measles vaccine causing autism, the myth persists.
Another of the common myths is that measles is a mild childhood illness with a rash. It can occur at any age and can be severe.
“Measles is a very serious disease with high fever,” said Vaishampayan.
“The unacceptable number of children killed last year by a wholly preventable disease is proof that measles anywhere is a threat to children everywhere,” said Henrietta Fore, executive director of UNICEF, in a press release.
Vaishampayan encouraged everyone to make sure their vaccines were up-to-date, especially before international travel. She said Stanislaus County public health offers free vaccines, with a small administration fee, for people without insurance.
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 11:35 AM.
