Measles is back and is much more serious than the chickenpox
The news about the latest measles outbreak keeps getting worse. To recap, Europe saw 30 times more measles cases in 2023 than it did in 2022, leading the UK to declare a “national incident.” Despite the US declaring measles eliminated in 2000, the country has also seen clusters of cases pop up in several states. In February, the World Health Organization warned that due to vaccination disruptions during Covid, more than half of the world will be at “high or very high risk” of an outbreak.
Unfortunately, the first three months of 2024 were not much better for the US. Last week, the CDC said that thanks to a “sharp rise” in cases, we may have officially lost our elimination status. Out of the 338 recorded cases since 2020, approximately 100 have been reported *this year alone.* Doing the math, that means there were around 78 cases per year in 2020-2023, but we’ve surpassed that number just three months into 2024. Yikes. And yes, almost all cases have been in people who are either unvaccinated or have an unknown vax status.
Symptoms to look for: Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes — but the most notable symptom is the red rash, which often covers the entire body. Complications include pneumonia and encephalitis, which is when the brain swells.
“Much more serious than chickenpox:” “Measles is much more serious than the chickenpox,” Farber tells PEOPLE. “A significant number will have a complication requiring hospitalization.”
US measles cases by the numbers: Since the beginning of 2020, the U.S. has recorded a total of 338 cases — but 29% of those cases have been reported since this year alone. As the CDC says, “The rapid increase in the number of reported measles cases during the first quarter of 2024 represents a renewed threat to elimination.” The cases were reported “almost all in persons who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. As of the end of 2023, U.S. measles elimination status was maintained.”
Where the outbreaks are: The CDC noted that nearly in all the cases, those infected by measles had either traveled internationally, or spent time with someone who had. In March, the Cincinnati Health Department warned that there was a potential for a measles exposure at a Disney on Ice performance. Earlier, officials in Virginia flagged two airports — Dulles International Airport or Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — as being the sites of potential measles exposures. And in Philadelphia, there was a confirmed outbreak of measles, where one child may have been the source of infection for at least seven people at a daycare center and hospital.
An “extraordinarily contagious” airborne virus: “The virus is transmitted by direct contact with infectious droplets or by airborne spread when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes,” the CDC says.
“If you take one person with measles. and you put them in a room with 10 others, and if they’re not immune, then nine out of those 10 will get measles just from airborne spread,” Farber tells PEOPLE. “It’s extraordinarily contagious.”
The virus can live in air for two hours: You don’t need to be in the same room as an infectious person either, as the CDC notes, “measles virus can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area. There’s no comparison to a cold. It’s nothing like a cold.”
Vaccinate your children, please: The agency ended its alert encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, adding that while the risk of transmission is low because of high population immunity, vaccination coverage remains below the amount “necessary to prevent sustained measles transmission.”
For the umpteenth time, vaccines do not cause autism: As for those who are hesitant to get the vaccine or give it to their child, Farber said, “there’s no evidence, at all, that this MMR causes autism or any other serious problems. And measles does. It’s very sad to see preventable diseases. We eliminated measles, from a practical basis, in the year 2000 and now it’s back.”
According to the CDC’s website, as of April 11, there have been a total of 121 cases reported in the US. 57 of those cases were children under age five. The biggest outbreak is in Illinois, and the highest week of reported cases was the week of March 17. You can check out all of the stats on their website, which is updated every Friday. It’s truly frustrating and terrifying because we should be moving forward as a country and not backwards into an era in which potentially deadly and formerly eradicated viruses are making a comeback. The anti-vaccine and anti-science movement in this country (and worldwide) has caused immeasurable damage to public health. Hopefully, WHO can help bridge the vaccination gaps in other countries and the actual threat of infection in the US wakes people up. I bet there are also parents who haven’t given their children the MMR vaccine because they figured it they didn’t need to since measles were eradicated. I don’t know how many of those parents are out there, but there’s nothing like the threat of measles at Disney on Ice to get some butts in gear.
Photos credit: Dennis Van Tine / Avalon, Alejandro Ernesto/picture-alliance/Cover Images
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