2024 will be a critical year for the measles virus.
The number of measles — or rubella — diagnoses in the United States so far this year has surpassed the number of cases in 2023, data now show.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 41 cases of measles have been detected in January and February 2024, compared to a total of 58 cases in 2023.
At this point last year, only three cases of measles had been reported.
Sixteen states have confirmed cases as of February 29: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.
Florida currently has the largest outbreak with 10 cases — six of which are linked to an elementary school in Broward County. according to politics.
The outbreaks were attributed to declining measles vaccination rates for the third year in a row.
The CDC said in January that the reported infections were a reflection of widespread measles as countries postponed or completely avoided offering the vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Most of these cases were among children and adolescents who had not received the measles vaccine (MMR or MMRV), even if age qualifies, The emergency notification said.
According to the CDCMore than 61 million MMR or MMRV vaccinations were postponed or missed between 2020 and 2022 because of Covid-related delays in “adjuvant immunization activities”.
As the measles vaccine became widely accepted, Measles declared eliminated 2000 in the United States.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines measles elimination as “the absence of local measles virus transmission in a defined geographic area (eg, region or country) for at least 12 months in the presence of a surveillance system that has been verified to be effective. .”
However, if measles outbreaks continue for a year or more, the United States may lose its elimination status.
“The increase in measles outbreaks and deaths is shocking but, unfortunately, not unexpected given the decline in vaccination rates over the past few years,” said John Verdefuel, director of the CDC's Division of Global Immunization. November 2023 report.
“Measles outbreaks everywhere pose a risk to all countries and populations, including communities that are under-vaccinated. Urgent, targeted efforts are critical to prevent measles morbidity and mortality.”
