America appears to be on the brink of a major measles outbreak, with cases set to rise almost faster in the first two months of 2024 than the entire year before – as doctors warn many young doctors have never seen a patient infected is with the virus.
Hundreds of people are already feared infected in California and Arizona after cases were confirmed in people in the states who attended local hospitals.
And there are also fears of an outbreak at a 1,800-person migrant shelter in Chicago — after four cases were confirmed, including two among children.
Doctors say vaccines have been so successful that many people now no longer “remember what it was like to live with the disease” – as vaccination rates fall for the third year in a row.
Millions of migrants have also come to America under President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, with experts warning that crowded shelters and low vaccination rates in other countries could leave the US vulnerable to outbreaks.
The map above shows the states that have detected measles cases so far this year
Measles usually starts with cold symptoms before causing a rash consisting of small red spots, some of which may feel slightly swollen. According to the NHS, it usually starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading further
In the US, a total of 45 cases of measles were recorded in 17 states in the first two months of 2024, CDC data shows, nearly matching the total of 58 infections recorded in all of 2023.
At the same time, vaccination rates against the virus dropped in the 2022-2023 school year to 93.1 percent for kindergarteners, the latest available rate — below the estimated 95 percent needed to stop the spread of the virus.
Measles infections can be easily prevented with the two-dose MMR vaccine, which is more than 97 percent effective against infections with the disease.
The disease is one of the most contagious diseases known to man and is spread through airborne droplets or on contaminated surfaces, with nine in 10 unvaccinated people exposed to the disease developing an infection.
Patients initially suffer from symptoms such as a runny nose and red and swollen eyes that are sensitive to light.
But this can quickly progress to a harsh cough and a rash that spreads from the face to the feet and consists of flat red spots.
The CDC says about one in five people infected with measles are hospitalized, while three in every thousand patients die from the disease. One in a thousand also gets swelling in the brain.
Dr. Paul Offit, a leading vaccine consultant who was involved in treating one of the measles patients reported in Philadelphia early this year, said he was the only doctor treating the patient who had previous experience with the virus.
He told the Guardian that vaccines have been so successful that few people now remember what life was like with measles.
“It’s a concerning disease for a number of reasons,” he told the publication, “so I’m concerned.”
The World Health Organization also warns that they are recording the virus ‘everywhere’ internationally and that the world is facing a ‘perfect storm’ of measles cases this year.
The graph above shows the number of measles cases reported in the US per year
The above shows the number of measles cases recorded per week in the US
In California, about 300 people are being warned that they may have been infected after a child infected with the virus visited a medical center.
The patient visited the ER at UC Davis, outside Sacramento, on March 5, or last Tuesday, from noon to 5 p.m. — exposing others to the virus. They had recently returned to the US from abroad.
In Arizona, health officials confirmed one case and discovered a second probable infection — prompting warnings for five locations, including a gym and a fabric store.
“Unvaccinated individuals are at the greatest risk of developing the disease if exposed,” said Kim Musselman, director of the local health authority.
‘The best protection against measles is to get the measles vaccine.’
In Chicago, officials are already rolling out vaccines at the migrant shelter in an effort to control the outbreak.
Dr. Larry Kociolek, a pediatrician at Lurie Children’s Hospital, shared CBS News: ‘Measles is probably the most contagious virus we know.
“On average, one child spreads it to 18 more children if they are not vaccinated.”
Experts are already warning that migrants entering the US could put the country at risk for an outbreak as many are unaware of their vaccines.
In April 2023, New York Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan urged officials and doctors to take extra caution when treating or screening migrants to avoid a health crisis.
He noted that 50 percent of migrants going to the city’s shelters had not received a polio vaccine.
Dr. Marc Siegel, medical director of New York University, also warned that migrants could bring diseases across the southern border into the U.S. — including potentially drug-resistant tuberculosis.
People are offered the MMR vaccine at ages 12 to 15 months and four to six years to protect themselves against the virus.
But vaccination rates continue to decline in the US due to the rise of vaccine misinformation and growing concerns about side effects.