Well, this is a bit troubling. According to the World Health Organization, the measles are making a comeback. Thanks to vaccines, the US declared the measles eliminated in 2000. However, the highly contagious virus, which can have serious complications, is once again spreading in the States. There’s already an outbreak in Europe, which saw 30 times more cases in 2023 than in 2022. This has led to the UK Health Security Agency to declare a “national incident” due to the significant public health risk.
So far, clusters of American cases have been found in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Georgia. Why, you may ask, is a disease that we can prevent the spread of suddenly popping up all over the world? Yeah, you guessed it: declining levels of vaccination plus international travel. Contact tracing has determined at least one outbreak has come from an unvaccinated individual who traveled abroad to a country with an outbreak. It’s almost like the medical and science professionals who have been globally begging people to get vaccinated against preventable diseases were onto something.
Nearly a dozen cases of measles have been reported in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Georgia in recent weeks, according to local health departments. International travel, coupled with declining global vaccination rates, is probably behind this spate of cases, experts say.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has confirmed at least nine cases of measles over the past month after a person contracted the highly contagious virus outside the United States and exposed a parent and child at a children’s hospital, according to health department spokesperson James Garrow. That exposure then led to a Philadelphia day care outbreak that includes at least five children.
Health officials in Virginia are also warning people who recently traveled out of two D.C.-area airports – Dulles International Airport on January 3 and Reagan Washington National Airport on January 4 – of potential exposure to the virus after someone returning to the US from abroad traveled through Northern Virginia.
Additionally, a single case of measles has been confirmed in “an unvaccinated resident of the metro Atlanta area,” the Georgia Department of Public Health announced Thursday.“The individual was exposed to measles while traveling out of the country,” a news release said. “DPH is working to identify anyone who may have had contact with the individual while they were infectious.”
It’s not only the United States. In the UK, a measles outbreak continues to widen: There have been 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases reported since October. The UK Health Security Agency has declared a national incident to signal the growing public health risk.
“It’s always concerning when we have a case of measles because of the probability that it’s going to spread to other individuals,” said Dr. Thomas Murray, a professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine who focuses on infectious diseases and global health.
“About 90% of susceptible people who are exposed will come down with signs and symptoms of the disease, so it’s very contagious.”
According to the CDC, 92% of US children have been vaccinated against measles via the MMR vaccine, which is shy of the national target of 95%. It’s very frustrating to have the tools available to prevent harmful viruses like the measles from spreading, yet not be able to stop people from believing misinformation despite the evidence of their eyes and ears.
Since 2020, I have unfriended and muted a lot of former high school classmates, a couple of neighbors, and a handful of family members, all who suddenly believe that all vaccines, even the ones they themselves have gotten, were harmful and/or the government’s way of controlling us. At least eight of the Pennsylvania cases were in unvaccinated children, and several have resulted in hospitalization. Georgia’s cases involved unvaccinated individuals as well. It doesn’t have to be like this. I don’t know how to stop it or what we do to get back on track, but something needs to give. I really hope all of the children affected by this outbreak make a quick and full recovery. This is also a really good reminder for us sane folk out here that for all of our nationalism and individualism, we really are all connected and contagious diseases know no boundaries.
Photos credit: Oleksandr Latkun / ImageBROKER / Avalon and CDC via Unsplash
The US relationship with Education is a big part of this. I truly wish science and basic health education were a priority. But uneducated folks make for a very pliable public, ripe for capitalists schemes.
Your last statement is 100% why republicans weaken public schools and have actively done so for at least 20 yrs. 🤬
Exactly! Republicans want a citizenry that is ignorant and easily manipulated. So they’ll focus on hating minorities rather than the fact the only platform Republicans support is taking away social benefits and tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Meanwhile, I recently found out there are lots of ‘religious exemptions’ for kids who never got the Covid vaccine at our school.
I’ve told this story before.
When I was about 10, I was helping with a Christmas vendor event at my church. I was assigned to a booth with a little old lady. She kept looking at me strangely.
Finally – after lunch but while we were still sitting at the table – she started to cry. She told me I had the same color eyes and hair of the baby she had that had died in her arms from the measles. She described watching the illness ravage her child and her death in her arms. She never recovered. She never had any other children. I hugged her. What else was there to do. But it made a huge impact on me.
My mom was with me. She heard her whole story. My mom is now an anti vaxxer and refused to vaccinate 5 of my younger siblings. She told me that my baby would die of SIDS if I vaccinated.
Anti vaccers are a menace and deranged.
Wow. I had measles before the vaccine was available; I darned near died. I cannot imagine not availing yourself of a vaccine that is clearly demonstrated to save lives!! Or life-altering complications!
Does that go for France, the UK, Canada and other countries with similar vaccine rates to the US? The countries with highest vaccine rates make it mandatory.
It’s vaccinations, but also irresponsible behavior. Regarding the parent and child who got measles in the Philadelphia hospital – the parent refused preventative medication and then sent the child to day care despite quarantine instructions.
If a single child at that daycare is harmed, I hope that parent is charged for reckless endangerment or assault.
This was actually a Law & Order: SVU episode.
Wow, that’s terrible. I remember quite well being quarantined in my parent’s bedroom (I was six). Only my mom was allowed in that room for the duration; the shades were always drawn, there was a kitchen cloth over the bedside lamp; and I wasn’t allowed to read. My mom read to me & played checkers with me. No idea where my parents slept, I’m guessing my dad on the couch & my mom in my bed, if she slept at all. I just don’t understand people not adhering to the advice of healthcare professionals!!
This is all just so infuriating. There are children out there who cannot be vaccinated for legitimate reasons and who could really get sick or worse if they catch these diseases that are preventable for the vast majority of people. I feel for the children who get sick because their parents are likely vaccinated and will be just fine.
It’s not just kids. Adults with weakened immune systems and the elderly are at a much higher risk, too. I cant leave home right now because I get sick every time. The idea of one more outbreak is so depressing. How long until I can leave home, if people will not do the things we have to do to fight this crap?
The truly scary part of measles (to me) is that it resets your immune memory. When you get immunizations or you get sick, your immune system files that info away, and if you’re exposed to that virus again, your immune system recognizes it and already knows how to kick it to the curb. But if you get measles, it’s like your immune system gets amnesia and forgets how to fight off all those diseases you’ve already been immunized against. So it leaves you vulnerable.
I also think part of the problem is that the last generation who lived through the diseases we vaccinate against have died, or are approaching the end of their lives. There’s no modern memory of living through epidemics of diseases we can easily vaccinate against. I think that makes it easier for parents to say, “oh I don’t need to vaccinate my kids. It’s not as bad as they make it out to be.” I’m not saying that is in any way an excuse for not getting vaccinated. (Get vaccinated! Science is amazing!) But I think it plays into the anti-vax thinking.
Ummmmm……I’m 60 and had chicken pox, measles, and mumps. We had polio and smallpox vaccines in the 60s, but that’s it. We’re not all in nursing homes, LOL! I remember when the vaccines came out. I also remember how I felt being sick. Measels doesn’t click with me, but my gosh I remember chicken pox and mumps. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. My kid is vaccinated because why on earth would I have wanted them to go through this? IMO, it’s child abuse NOT to vaccinate.
OUCH!!! Not dead yet! I had chickenpox my first Christmas — Oooh! Look at the polka dotted baby! — when I was too young for that particular set of vaccinations.
And now I’m wondering if we really know just how long protections from some of these vaccinations or having had the illnesses actually last. Should people in their 60’s or 50’s or even younger have their vaccines updated — now that they’re more likely to be exposed to outbreaks?
66 and not dead yet! Had measles, chickenpox & mumps–thank goodness, not all at once! All three of us kids shared these back in the 1960s, pre-vaccinations for those. We were fortunate enough to get the smallpox & polio vaccines, TB, and probably a few other things I can’t remember. Oh, and whooping cough, and tetanus.
@Blythe: this doesn’t quite answer your question, but when I went back to grad school in 2002, I was required to get an MMR vaccine (this was in Oregon), because I couldn’t prove I had had measles. And while I did have shingles once (due to that childhood round of chickenpox), my doc convinced me a few years ago to get that vaccine. So, maybe? Ask your doctor.
Thanks @BeanieBean -I’ll ask. And maybe I’ll be able to find at least a partial vaccination record.
I was referring to people born in the early 20th century (i.e. my grandparents’ generation), prior to development and widespread distributions of vaccines for common, highly communicable diseases, such as polio, typhoid, yellow fever, etc. My parents are in their 70s and one of the first generations of children to begin receiving a standard schedule of vaccinations.
The problem with the ‘haven’t lived through an epidemic’ is COVID. Hello! Epidemic everyone alive 4 years ago lived through. So anti-vaxx isn’t anti-experience.
I literally can’t leave my house right now because I have a compromised immune system, and all of these diseases are so rampant. Between COVID, the flu, RSV, colds, I have been sick all winter. Now measles??? Please no. GET VACCINATED FFS.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. All of those illnesses are awful but I got RSV a few years ago (before there was a vax) and it kicked my ass, even as a healthy person.
I’m a therapist and it’s been astonishing how much of my time is spent educating on vaccines since 2020. It’s wild what people don’t know, the misinformation out there is so persuasive.
I’m a broken record on this topic, and my favorite insomnia hobby is to troll the anti vaxxers in the middle of the night (it’s great fun). But seriously? Vaccine preventable illnesses, especially childhood illnesses are on the rise and it angers me to no end. (Here’s the broken record part:)
My father had polio before the vaccine was available. When the vaccine became available, my grandmother grabbed all her children (even the grown ones and spouses), my grandfather and herself and stood in line for HOURS to be vaccinated against polio.
Polio didn’t kill my dad when he was a child (obviously) but he had to bear the life long disabilities related to polio from the age of 5 until his death.
How did we go from mothers standing in lines for hours to get their children vaccinated to mothers(and fathers) paying off doctors for false vaccine records or medical exemptions??
I’m with you. My mother had measles as a child and not only did she nearly die, her vision was permanently impaired from complications. I cannot fathom willingly doing that to my child when we have the option to protect them.
I get a little freaked out about measles outbreaks. I had the MMR as a child but when I was 9 or10, managed to catch the mumps. My mom was understandably concerned about me also catching measles. At the time (1988-ish) my doctor told my mom that vaccines aren’t 100% for everyone and I was likely one of those people, but because everyone else was vaccinated I was ok. When measles outbreaks started popping up several years ago, I definitely started worrying about my level of protection.
I just wish there was a way that a parent’s poor decision making would then negatively affect them, but this is a shituation where their poor decision making negatively affects their small child.
Most of my immediate family has become ardent anti-vaxxers since the pandemic. The Conservative Party in Canada openly supported a “convoy” protesting vaccine mandates. The reluctance to take the COVID vaccine has spiraled into a much larger denial of any vaccine’s efficacy.
My brother and SIL have two children with autism and fully blame vaccines. They’ve stopped giving them and their third has no vaccines at all. I’m concerned for them. My daughter will be fully vaccinated at least, otherwise, how could I even see them.
I will never forget the way my mother talked about the time all four of us (aged 1,2,3,4) had measles. She was so afraid we wouldn’t all make it though.
Hard to believe it’s coming back 😫
@JanetDr- I had measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox when I was a kid. I’m a public librarian now. In 2016, when there was an outbreak in my community, I learned that measles can linger in the air for two hours worth of spreading time. I had a one-year old grandson I saw regularly and was the primary adult for my mother, who was living on a memory care unit. Long story short, I got the MMR vaccine when I was 57.
I didn’t feel comfortable having my baby in public until he had his 12 month MMR vaccine. He’s 16 months now, in day care, and I would be FURIOUS if he got a vaccine preventable illness from his classmates. Kids at his daycare are supposed to be vaccinated so I hope that won’t happen.
Do we really need to see kids dying from pertussis and the measles in 2024? How many kids need to die before these idiot parents vaccinate their kids! Why is it okay for them to be vaccinated, as most of them are, but not their kids?
I visited the homeschool recovery reddit recently, and so many of the posters have talked about being sickly their whole lives from being unvaccinated, their teeth neglected, and this on top of their educations being totally neglected. In what world is a 15 year old with rotting teeth, who’se always sick, reads at a first grade level, and has no idea how to make friends, an acceptable thing? Why don’t we call that what it is–parental neglect?
Not vaccinating kids should be taken as seriously as denying kids food or education. If a child can’t be vaccinated I understand, but let’s end this “personal exception” crap. It’s the kids who suffer in the end. If you’re going to live in a society, use public facilities, you need to engage in public health-supporting behavior. Why is that such a controversial idea now?
We’re watching out public and community infrastructure get destroyed–public health, public schools, even the idea of cummity itself. I have no idea what to do about it, and I fear what the endgame is.
We know a family whose newborn son was exposed to pertussis and did not survive 😢 This was only a few short years ago. Inspired me to have my títers drawn and revax for a few things. People don’t realize how lucky we were to have practically eradicated these diseases…sadly, it will take the unnecessary death of children and the immunocompromised before this is taken seriously.
Jenny McCarthy and other celebrity anti-vaxxers — looking at you, RFK Jr., you loon — have so much to answer for.
RFK Jr. helped to gin up fears about the measles vaccine in Samoa. More than 80 people died when measles broke out there.
@QuiteContrary – YES! The first celeb anti-vaxxer I really remember was the OG, Jenny McCarthy. The things she was saying seemed downright laughable at that time… and then more and more nutjobs lined up behind her on that side of sanity. Of course she isn’t only to blame (too many), but she’s one of the initial outspoken people I remember speaking out against vaccines back in the day. UGH.
I’m a parent of an 11yo, who is currently home sick from school with a cold, he’s pretty congested, and it’s mostly mild. I can’t imagine being such a careless parent that you wouldn’t do anything and everything in your power to protect your children from physical harms in the world, especially life-threatening illnesses that are preventable with vaccination.
My mom talked about waiting in line for polio vaccines as a kid with her siblings and classmates, at school no less, and they were so proud to get it (as some others mention here too). She made sure my sister and I were vaccinated for everything available to us.
I was in the earliest group to get the chickenpox vaccine when I was 12 and it had just come out. I was a good candidate because I had never gotten chickenpox as a younger child, despite my sister getting it, and my mom realized it as I was taking a bath with her when we were very little and her back was covered in spots. Doctors said maybe I’d had some built in immunity to it, and that the vaccine would make it so I’d absolutely never get it.
Vaccines + Science are Great! Vaccinate your children!
PSA: If you were born in the mid-60s the measles vaccine you received may not have been sufficient to confer full lifelong immunity, and you should ask your doctor if your antibodies should be checked. After a measles scare in my community, my doc checked my antibodies, and though I still had some, I didn’t have enough to be immune, so I got revaccinated. Frankly, I don’t remember the details on the issues with the mid-60s vaccine or the birth years affected, and you shouldn’t take medical advice from a stranger on the internet anyway, but it’s worth asking your doctor.
@Hexicon Thanks for your comment. I was just wondering about that. Since most of us with vaccinations also benefitted from herd immunity, it would be good to know just how effective vaccines continue to be given that the possibility of exposure to diseases is increasing.
And Philly already had a mumps outbreak several years ago. If you are 40 or older, you might want to ask your doctor to test your antibody levels for MMR; I did when I heard about the mumps outbreak and it turns out I no longer had immunity to rubella, and had to get another MMR.
It’s so infuriating that these people are willing to risk letting their children die from a preventable illness only because of their pathological need to be right about their anti-vaccine stance, no matter the cost.
I am here for ALL the vaccines, people! The only caution I observe is to wait at least two weeks between each injection. I’m too squeamish to get more than one at a time.
I’m with you. Give me every vaccine ya’ got! I was part of the age cohort that only got one dose of the MMR vaccine in childhood. I discovered that when going through my old baby book during covid. So I got a booster a couple years ago. I’m so glad that I’m freshly immunized as herd immunity weakens and outbreaks increase. I feel so bad for the innocent victims of this idiocy. Andrew Wakefield should burn in hell.
OK, time to get the antibodies checked.
If you were born before 1989, you may have only received 1 MMR vaccine. Doctors now recommend 2, so it’s probably worth asking if you should get a booster.
That said, if you’ve had covid, your immune system might well have damage that can make you more vulnerable to ANY illness, so be extra careful if you live in an area with a known outbreak. Remember, each covid re-infection increases your risk of developing Long Covid, which can take the form of an “invisible” illness like heart damage. Something like 14% of Americans already have Long Covid, and about 4% have severe Long Covid—1 in 25 people! You don’t want to add the stress and impact of the MANY currently circulating illnesses on top of that. Wear a mask, get curbside pickup where possible, and be honest with yourself about how much you’re risking with your behavior: like, can you go to Target when it’s less busy? Can you wear a mask? Leave your kids at home? Simply make sure your visit is as efficient as possible? If we all stopped pretending that the world is 100% back to pre-2020 normal, we could make a significant dent these constant waves of illness just by being about 30% more careful.
Thank you for passing this along. I was born in the 70s and my first thought upon reading this was, is that initial vaccine going to be enough? It is so disheartening to hear that the measles are coming back. I will never understand people. Personally, I think a large number of people in the US are just spoiled, entitled, and selfish. They don’t care that mothers in other countries may walk for miles to get their children vaccinated. When the vaccination came out for covid and my family in Mexico heard that there were so many Americans that didn’t want to get the vaccine, they were like, “are they crazy, or just stupid?” I’m one of those people with long covid too, I’m thankful I don’t have respiratory issues, but I’ve been dealing with gi issues since March 2021. My cousin who has a pulmonary disease unrelated to covid had to go to the hospital recently, and said that there are many people needing lung transplants now due to long covid.
If you live in one of the outbreak areas and it’s been more than 20 years since your last MMR jab, ask your doctor about getting a booster dose. I was a grad student at a public university when the undergrads got mumps in 2012 and then measles in 2014 and they offered boosters to everyone who wanted one.
Even if they appear to recover fully, they’re not out of the woods. The worst thing is that statistically some of these children will experience a complication called SSPE years from now where their brains become inflamed and basically melt over the course of a year or two. It’s nearly always fatal and it happens on average 7 years after the infection, during which time there are NO symptoms. It’s a nightmarish death. People have no idea how terrible these banished plagues can be. Measles is the most contagious disease in existence. The vaccine is a goddamned miracle.
My brother had measles as a teenager. It is not something I would wish on anybody. This post brought it all back.
He was in pain. I remember the pain. And some sort of cream my grandmother made to alleviate his pain. He also haf high temperature.
To make matters worse my mum travelled outside the country so we shunted him over to my grandmother’s as fast as possible. It was awful. He really suffered both physically and mentally.
It seemed like the symptoms were much more worse because he was not a child. I remember the scars and how long they stayed, black patches before they eventually disappeared.