Measles making a comeback

Was it not too long ago we were hearing/reading the same thing about measles?

Times of India

Measles, the highly contagious viral disease mostly affecting children, is making a rapid global comeback.
Measles deaths had plummeted worldwide by 74% between 2000 and 2007, from an estimated 7.5 lakh to 1.97 lakh annually.

But the World Health Organisation now says that the rapid comeback threatens to roll back the progress made through vaccination campaigns during the past 18 years.

Dr Peter Strebel from WHO's department of immunization and vaccines admitted that anti-measles efforts had suffered from inadequate funding and lack of political commitment since 2008.

As a result there have been major measles outbreaks in 37 countries across the world since last year, 30 of them in Africa. During the same period, more than 64,000 measles cases have been reported and there have been more than 1,100 measles deaths in the African region alone.

WHO now fears that the combined effects of decreased financial and poor political commitment could lead to over five lakh deaths a year by 2012, wiping out the gains that had been made.

Strebel said, "Targets are set for 2015 and are to achieve at least 90% measles vaccination coverage nationally and 80% coverage in every district, reduce measles cases to less than five per million population, reduce measles mortality by 95% compared to 2000 levels."

Measles is mainly caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family, with serious complications being blindness, encephalitis, diarrhoea, ear infections and pneumonia.

This was also reported in MSNBC; Guardian and more
Will this be one of the next vaccinations we will be told to get? At least for our children and grandchildren?

I find this very alarming. I was born in 1966. They stopped vaccinating the year before. So.......yes, I am alarmed.

It's amazing this so called disease was declared annihilated. I do not have immunization against this. Yes....I am afraid of this.

Thanx OP for bringing this up.

I'm only commenting again due to the fact I believe your post is in fact valid beyond normal understanding.

Trying to attract attention to your thread! Most of us are not vaccinated against this threat.

It's huge!

Don't freak out

www.jpands.org...

Originally posted by Wayne60
Will this be one of the next vaccinations we will be told to get? At least for our children and grandchildren?

People not getting the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccinations is the reason why they're still around...

So I don't get what your angle is with this thread??

Originally posted by brilab45
I find this very alarming. I was born in 1966. They stopped vaccinating the year before. So.......yes, I am alarmed.

It's amazing this so called disease was declared annihilated. I do not have immunization against this. Yes....I am afraid of this.

Thanx OP for bringing this up.

That makes no sense since they still vaccinate against it. Sadly one of my children had an adverse reaction to vaccines and I no longer trust any vaccine and would rather take my chances with the measles.

edit for spelling.

[edit on 22-5-2010 by calstorm]

The swine flu failed to get every one to get vaccinations so I am thinking this may be "PLAN B". Odd that this is happening down just as the Swine flu buzz is dieing down.

reply to post by calstorm

I'm telling you, I've never been vaccinated against this. My sister has a quarter size scar from the vaccination (1965). The medical profession stopped vaccination a long time ago.

reply to post by brilab45

The scar you're talking about is from a SMALLPOX vaccination, not measles. Measles is still vaccinated against---ask anyone with small children who are up on their immunizations. It's part of the MMR vaccine which kids get 4 or 5 doses of before they are school age. MMR=Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (whooping cough) and it's the most painful of the immunizations. If your parents got your vaccinations when you were a kid, then you were immunized.

(Matter of fact, I just checked at the website for the school my kids last attended, looked at their immunization records, which are available online there, and yep, there it is. MMR immunization.)

Kids can't start school without up-to-date immunizations unless parents claim the religious exception, so if you live in the US and you weren't home-schooled, you were undoubtedly vaccinated.

And don't take my word for it that they still immunize against measles---call your local health department and ask them. They're the ones who generally give immunizations. If you're really concerned about it, get in touch with the health department where you had your own immunizations when you were a kid and ask to see your record. Or contact the school where you went to school and ask for a copy of your records. You should have an immunization record in there somewhere.

Thank you for the clarification. Dunno what was running through my head. Just a good case of anxiety I guess. Star 4 U.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Angle? There is no angle. Unless of course you refer to an announcement like this seems to come up every couple of years. In spite of the fact that every child in the US must receive an MMR before they are permitted into the school system. I go through that every year with having to provide immunization records before my granddaughter can return to school, and will have to add another set of records to present when my next granddaughter begins kindergarten this fall.

How are other countries holding up to immunizations? I will have to look that up after while, as I have some other things to get done this morning.

Obviously, there are some people who are not aware of this issue and that makes it worth the effort in making the post.

reply to post by brilab45


Glad I could help.

And as riiver said, you can go to your local health dept for vaccinations, and the last I heard they base your payment on a sliding scale in relation to your income.

Measles is assuredly one of those diseases that can be controlled, but the key is this requires immunization. The CDC states in their recent traveler's update: Center's for Disease Control

In the News
2010 Measles Update
This information is current as of today, May 23, 2010 at 10:40 EDT

Updated: April 22, 2010

Measles remains a common disease in many parts of the world. Worldwide, an estimated 10 million cases and 164,000 deaths from measles occur each year. Measles is a leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths among young children. Measles outbreaks are common in many areas, including Europe. Although the risk for exposure to measles can be high for many U.S. travelers and citizens living in other countries (expatriates), the illness can be prevented by a vaccination.
Recent Outbreak Activity

Some examples of current measles activity include recent measles outbreaks have occurred in the Philippines and several countries in Africa.

* During January and February 2010, more than 1,300 cases of measles (including five deaths) were reported throughout the Philippines. Of these cases, more than 740 cases have been laboratory or clinically confirmed, which is twice as many confirmed measles cases as during the same time period last year. Measles outbreaks have been reported in the capital city of Manila and in 10 other areas of the country.
* Over the past year, several African countries have reported high numbers of measles cases. South Africa has had an ongoing outbreak of measles and has reported more than 9,000 confirmed cases during January 1, 2009 through March 12, 2010. Measles cases are being reported throughout the country, but a majority of the cases are occurring in Gauteng Province.

Because of the risk of measles in both developed and developing countries, all international travelers should be up to date on immunizations, regardless of the travel destination. In addition, expatriates should make sure they are vaccinated against measles, especially in areas where outbreaks are occurring, such as the countries listed above.

According to Medscape Today in 2008:

Childhood Vaccination Rates High, but Measles Re-emerging

Donya Currie

Posted: 11/18/2008; Nations Health. 2008;38(9) © 2008 American Public Health Association

Although vaccination rates for children are at an all-time high in the United States, measles cases are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of U.S. measles cases among children whose parents rejected vaccination.

Childhood immunization rates remain at or near record levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with at least 90 percent coverage for all but one of the individual vaccines in the recommended series for young children. More than 77 percent of children were fully vaccinated in 2007. There were no differences in coverage among any racial or ethnic group for the recommended series of vaccines, and fewer than 1 percent of U.S. children had received no vaccine by age 19 months to 35 months in 2007, according to the Sept. 5 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The Medscape article does bring up an interesting question when they state

with nearly half of U.S. measles cases among children whose parents rejected vaccination

Did the other nearly 50% of cases come from those who had the vaccination?

The following pdf file shows the current, as of May 13, 2010 of reported measles cases in WHO member states

WHO