Measles Hits Record Levels

Measles cases in the US have now reached record levels. As of 26th April 2019, 704 cases had been reported across roughly a third of all US States, making this year the worst since the disease was declared irradicated in the year 2,000.  The alarming rise has even prompted Donald Trump, President, to urge parents to get their children vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reports from January 1 to April 26, 2019, 704 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 22 states. This is an increase of 78 cases from the previous week. This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

The states that have reported cases to CDC are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, and Washington.

Seventy-one percent (503) of this year’s US patients were unvaccinated, 11% (76) were vaccinated with at least one of the recommended doses, and 18% (125) had an unknown vaccination status. Of those infected this year, 25 were younger than 6 months old, 68 were between 6 and 11 months old and 167 were between 16 months and 4 years old.

The identified cases are occuring predominantly in children who have not been vaccinated, itself an effect of concerns about the MMR vaccine, first raised by Dr Andrew Wakefield from the UK. Dr Wakefield was shamed for falsely linking autism to the MMR jab and subsequently struck off from the Medical Register in the UK. He has been almost universally condemned by paediatricians and public health officials across the globe and is credited with being a primary cause in the resurgence of a disease with serious health implications for babies and children.

Measles can cause severe complications including encephalitis, pneumonia and even death.

What does this mean in Cayman? Although we have a small population, that population is highly concentrated into the Western portion of Grand Cayman, with collectively children attending comparatively few schools.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, on average one person with measles will infect 12 to 18 people in a susceptible population, which is a population without prior exposure to the measles virus either through vaccination or natural infection.

The disease is highly contagious; 90 percent of susceptible individuals exposed to the airborne droplets will become infected. The infectious droplets can remain in the air for two hours, meaning that one can become infected during that time period even without person-to-person contact.

We have around 11,000 children aged from 0 – 14 years. For every 10% of those not vaccinated, should a severe outbreak occur, we could expect up to an overwhelming  2,500 hospitalisations, a case of encephalitis and a death. It is not suprising that public health officials and medical professionals wholeheartedly support vaccination. Full vaccination is not just important to protect your own child either. One of the lesser appreciated but highly compelling reasons for vaccination is that although the chances of brain injury or death for any single child may be comparatively low, the highly contagious nature of the virus means those children may well pass it in to someone more vulnerable with a much higher chance of being hospitalised or dying. The CDC is quick to point out that when we get upwards of 90% vaccination rates, it becomes much more difficult for the virus to take hold. Simply, vaccination helps protect others. not just your own child.

HSA Advisory on Measles: https://www.hsa.ky/public_health/measles-outbreak-advisory/

You can obtain vaccination at HSA without charge, or at one of the private paediatric clinics on island, such as Integra Healthcare, The Children’s Clinic, Dr Abrahams and others (charges will apply and may vary from provider to provider).