Why Measles May Just Be Getting Started
By Keith Collins, Adam Pearce and Drew Armstrong
| February 6, 2015
The California measles outbreak that started in Disneyland has so far infected about 100 people, most of them unvaccinated. It has struck fear among many parents that unvaccinated children will put their kids in danger. But there’s a greater concern: If overall vaccination levels fall below 90 percent in states around the country, there is a higher likelihood that such isolated measles outbreaks will become widespread. Related Article →
The eradication of measles
In 1978, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set out to eliminate the virus from the U.S. with a wide campaign of vaccination. Measles outbreaks have sharply decreased since then.
A rise in cases
In 2000 measles was declared wiped out in the U.S. There have been sporadic outbreaks since then, and last year saw the most measles cases since its elimination. 2015 is on pace to exceed it.
Measles cases by state, since 2000
There have been more than 1,700 cases in the U.S. since 2000, mostly from travelers who picked up the disease abroad and visited or returned to the U.S.
Recent outbreaks
The biggest outbreaks in 2013, 2014, and this year were concentrated in New York City, Ohio and California, where the outbreak is ongoing.

In a 2013 Brooklyn outbreak, an unvaccinated 17-year-old was infected in London and returned home, causing almost 60 infections in an Orthodox Jewish community.

An Ohio outbreak in 2014 infected 382 people, many in an Amish community, where vaccinations are discouraged. Nine were hospitalized.

Outbreak in California
In the Disneyland outbreak, many of the people infected were never vaccinated, according to the CDC. Of the 13 people who were vaccinated, five had only received one of two recommended doses. The CDC has not yet reported the vaccination status of the rest.

Disease experts say the outbreak likely started when a traveler with measles came into contact with unvaccinated people who then infected each other. While in California, the overall vaccination rate is 90.7 percent, some school districts in Orange County and surrounding areas have rates below 90 percent, making them more vulnerable to infection.

Vaccination rates among children
Vaccination rates are declining in other communities across the country as well. In 17 states, preschool vaccination rates for measles are below 90 percent, the threshold public health experts say is necessary to protect people who can't get the shots for medical reasons or because they're still too young.

Colorado and Ohio are the states with the lowest vaccination rates among children, each at 86 percent as of 2013.

In some areas, rates of vaccination are even lower—as many as a quarter of children in one Northern California town were under-vaccinated, putting not just other children but the entire community at risk.

Rates are as of 2013.

State laws
Nineteen states have laws that allow people not to vaccinate their children even if they don't have a medical exemption or religious objection. At least five states are working on legislative or administrative changes to tighten the philosophical vaccine exemptions, including California, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota. “One of the most basic roles of government is to protect the public, and that’s why we pass laws,” says California state senator Richard Pan. “We have a public health crisis right now.”

 

 

Doni Bloomfield, Caroline Chen and Anna Edney contributed to this story

Related Article →
The eradication of measles
In 1978, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set out to eliminate the virus from the U.S. with a wide campaign of vaccination. Measles outbreaks have sharply decreased since then.
A rise in cases
In 2000 measles was declared wiped out in the U.S. There have been sporadic outbreaks since then, and last year saw the most measles cases since its elimination. 2015 is on pace to exceed it.
Measles cases by state, since 2000
There have been more than 1,700 cases in the U.S. since 2000, mostly from travelers who picked up the disease abroad and visited or returned to the U.S.
Recent outbreaks
The biggest outbreaks in 2013, 2014, and this year were concentrated in New York City, Ohio and California, where the outbreak is ongoing.

In a 2013 Brooklyn outbreak, an unvaccinated 17-year-old was infected in London and returned home, causing almost 60 infections in an Orthodox Jewish community.

An Ohio outbreak in 2014 infected 382 people, many in an Amish community, where vaccinations are discouraged. Nine were hospitalized.

Outbreak in California
In the Disneyland outbreak, many of the people infected were never vaccinated, according to the CDC. Of the 13 people who were vaccinated, five had only received one of two recommended doses. The CDC has not yet reported the vaccination status of the rest.

Disease experts say the outbreak likely started when a traveler with measles came into contact with unvaccinated people, who then infected each other. While in California, the overall vaccination rate is 90.7 percent, some school districts in Orange County and surrounding areas have rates below 90 percent, making them more vulnerable to infection.

Vaccination rates among children
Vaccination rates are declining in other communities across the country as well. In 17 states, preschool vaccination rates for measles are below 90 percent, the threshold public health experts say is necessary to protect people who can't get the shots for medical reasons or because they're still too young.

Colorado and Ohio are the states with the lowest vaccination rates among children, each at 86 percent as of 2013.

In some areas, rates of vaccination are even lower—as many as a quarter of children in one Northern California town were under-vaccinated, putting not just other children but the entire community at risk.

Rates are as of 2013.

State laws
Nineteen states have laws that allow people not to vaccinate their children even if they don't have a medical exemption or religious objection. At least five states are working on legislative or administrative changes to tighten the philosophical vaccine exemptions, including California, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota. “One of the most basic roles of government is to protect the public, and that’s why we pass laws,” says California state senator Richard Pan. “We have a public health crisis right now.”

 

 

Doni Bloomfield, Caroline Chen and Anna Edney contributed to this story

Related Article →