Image courtesy CDC/Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
- Nearly 700 measles cases have been reported in the US this year, with the bulk of cases in New York and Washington states. That’s the highest number of US cases in 25 years.
- The measles vaccine was developed in the early 1960s, and measles was declared eliminated from the US in 2000.
- When there are enough vaccinated people in a population, the measles virus doesn’t have a chance to spread. But experts worry that as more kids forgo vaccines, the virus could grab a "foothold" in the country once again.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The measles is back. The extremely contagious virus is circulating once again across the US, especially in pockets of the country where unvaccinated people are clustered and at risk.
With nearly 700 cases reported so far this year — the highest total in 25 years — the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning that "the longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States."
Before the invention of the measles vaccine in the early 1960s, the measles killed 400 to 500 people in the US every year. Public health experts are now concerned that the illness could turn deadly once again (though no US deaths have been reported so far this year).
Here’s a look back at what the measles really looks like when people are not vaccinated.
The measles virus is extremely contagious: 90% of unprotected people who are exposed will get the infection.
CDC
The measles virus can live for two hours on surfaces outside the body, infecting other people long after a sick person has left the room. Then it takes about seven to 14 days for the first symptoms to show up.
Some of the first indications someone has the measles look much like the flu: infected people can get a cough, low-grade fever, runny nose, and sore throat.
A child’s eyes often start to get red and watery. After three days of being sick, a rash begins to break out on the face and neck, then spreads to the body.
CDC/Barbara Rice
"Measles is not a harmless childhood illness, but a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease," US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement on Wednesday.
People with the measles may be sensitive to light, and about one in every 1,000 who catch the disease will die.
CDC
Dr. Robert Amler, dean of New York Medical College, recently told Business Insider that the question he wants to ask anti-vaxxers is: "Do you really want to put your child’s life on the line, in the hopes that your child will be saved by medical care?"
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- We asked 10 healthcare leaders to pinpoint the biggest transformation in their industry that’s been taken for granted. Here’s what they said.
- With nearly 700 measles cases this year, the CDC is bracing for the disease to grab a ‘foothold’ on the US again — for the first time in decades
- How much your healthcare costs in all 50 states
Source: Business Insider – hbrueck@businessinsider.com (Hilary Brueck)