America appears to be on the precipice of a major measles outbreak with cases in the first two months of 2024 nearly outpacing the whole of last year — as doctors warn many young physicians have never even seen a patient infected with the virus.
Hundreds of people are already feared to be infected in California and Arizona after cases were confirmed in people in the states who visited local hospitals.
And there are also fears over an outbreak at a 1,800-strong 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 drop 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 over-crowded shelters and low vaccination rates in other countries could leave the US vulnerable to outbreaks.
The above map shows the states that have detected measles cases so far this year
Measles typically begins with cold-like symptoms, before causing a rash made up of small red spots, some of which can feel slightly raised. According to the NHS, it typically starts on the face and behind the ears before spreading further
A total of 45 measles cases were recorded in the US over the first two months of 2024 across 17 states, data from the CDC suggests, near the tally of 58 infections recorded in the whole of 2023.
At the same time, vaccination rates against the virus dropped to 93.1 percent for kindergarteners over the 2022 to 2023 school year, the latest available — below the estimated 95 percent needed to stop the virus from spreading.
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 infectious known to man and is spread via droplets in the air or contaminated surfaces, with nine in ten unvaccinated people exposed to the disease developing an infection.
Patients initially suffer symptoms including a runny nose and red and puffy 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 is formed of flat red spots.
The CDC says about one in five people infected with measles are hospitalized while up to three out of every 1,000 patients die from the disease. One in a thousand also develop swelling in the brain.
Dr Paul Offit, a top vaccines adviser who was involved in treating one of the measles patients reported early this year in Philadelphia, said he was the only doctor treating the patient who had past 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 worrisome disease for a number of reasons,’ he told the publication, ‘so, I’m worried’.
The World Health Organization is also warning that internationally they are recording the virus ‘everywhere’ and that the world faces a ‘perfect storm’ of measles cases this year.
The above graph shows the number of measles cases reported in the US by year
The above shows the number of measles cases recorded in the US by week
In California, some 300 people are being warned they could 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 Tuesday last week, from noon to 5pm — exposing others to the virus. They had recently returned to the US from abroad.
In Arizona, health officials have confirmed one case and detected a second probable infection — prompting warnings affecting five locations, including a gym and a fabrics shop.
‘Unvaccinated individuals are at highest risk of developing the disease if exposed,’ local health authority director Kim Musselman said.
‘The best protection against measles is to receive the measles vaccine.’
In Chicago, officials are already rolling out vaccines at the migrant shelter in an effort to get a handle on the outbreak.
Dr Larry Kociolek, a pediatrician at Lurie Children’s Hospital, told CBS News: ‘Measles is probably the most contagious virus that we know of.
‘On average, one child will spread it to 18 additional children if they are not vaccinated.’
Experts are already warning that migrants entering the US could put the country at risk of an outbreak because many are not up to date on their vaccines.
In April 2023, New York City’s Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan urged officials and doctors to take extra care when treating or screening migrants in order to prevent a health crisis.
He noted that 50 percent of migrants heading to the city’s shelters did not have their polio vaccine.
Dr Marc Siegel, medical director at New York University, also warned that migrants could bring diseases across the southern border and into the US — which could include drug-resistant tuberculosis.
People are offered the MMR vaccine at the ages of 12 to 15 months and four to six years to protect themselves against the virus.
But vaccination rates are continuing to fall in the US amid the rise of vaccine misinformation and rising concerns over side effects.
