The United States is battling one of the worst measles outbreak in 35 years as per the official figures released by the authorities on Friday. Since January this year, over 2,000 confirmed cases of the highly contagious illness have been recorded in contrast to those reported last year including 3 deaths, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 45 states have recorded cases
In November, a panel is set to decide whether the US will lose its status of having eliminated measles, which Canada lost last year. A country loses elimination status after a year or more of continuous transmission of the same strain of the measles virus. The US has recorded more measles cases over the past 18 months than the total number over 25 years before that.
“We are witnessing an avoidable crisis that disproportionally hurts children,” said Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The pediatric dominated disease made a strong comeback in recent years after the United States declared it eradicated in 2000. The uptick comes against a backdrop of declining vaccination rates and growing distrust in health authorities. The vaccination drop stemmed from health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’ anti-virus sentiments and fears of well-studied and proven immunization.
Under the two-dose vaccine regimen, the US health deparment recommends two shots to children between ages one and six, which is 97% effective in protecting against the illness. Prior to the development of the measles vaccine in the early 1960s, hundreds of children were killed annually in the United States. The last time U.S. recorded the highest number of measles was in 1991, where 9,643 cases were reported. According to experts, the current outbreak is expected to record a surge in the coming days.
Although the measles vaccine is mandatory in the US, Americans across much of the country can bypass the rule by citing religious, or sometimes even philosophical, reasons.