General Discussion

HuckleB

(35,773 posts) Fri Mar 13, 2015, 07:32 PM Mar 2015

The Measles Outbreak Is Twice As Big As You Thought

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2015/03/12/the-measles-outbreak-is-twice-as-big-as-you-thought/

"The number of U.S. measles cases has continued climbing toward 200, with 173 cases noted in the CDC’s most recent report March 6 — but that’s only half the story. If you add in the cases multiplying north of the border, the outbreak nearly doubles in size.

Canada is also facing a major outbreak of the viral illness with more than 100 cases in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, all tracing back to two families who visited Disneyland in December, according to the CBC, Canada’s state broadcast news station. At a press conference Feb. 21, Quebec public health officials announced 21 measles cases. Less than three weeks later, the cases have climbed to 119 – all in unvaccinated individuals.

...

The two families who returned from Disneyland with the infectious souvenir appear to be members of a religious community whose adherents say that vaccination goes against their faith, reported the CBC. But every major world religion supports vaccination to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases, and this group’s religious objection has put not only their own community’s children in danger but also the children of other Canadians. One of the children with measles attended the school École intégrée de Saint-Pierre while infectious, and a person can transmit the disease to others for up to four days before the disease’s telltale rash appears. Approximately 700 students and staff are at the school, and public officials estimate that 160 students are not fully vaccinated against measles.

...

One of the more pernicious misconceptions that has crept up during this outbreak is the idea that the particular strain associated with the Disneyland outbreak is not one that the vaccine can prevent, but this idea is flat-out false. Unlike the flu vaccine, which does need to be reformulated each year to protect against the regularly changing strains of the flu virus, the measles vaccine offers all-in-one protections against this disease.

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Ugh.