While there is a vaccine and the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, the measles there are still over a hundred thousand cases a year worldwide to this disease mainly young children under the age of five. According to http://www.cdc.gov/measles/outbreaks.html the average amount of people in the US that have measles is 60 but in 2011 the number of cases was 222 people. According to this study 40% of those who contracted the disease did so in other countries and brought it back to the US causing breakouts in 17 communities throughout the US.
Measles was first discovered around the 7th century AD and was considered much more deadly and feared than smallpox. It was a disease that most people contracted once in their lifetime, approximately four million cases a year. There were epidemic cycles every few years and most of the country (90%) had the disease before they were fifteen. When the vaccine became available in 1963 the cases dropped almost completely.
On the history of vaccine's website it shows the incredible drop in cases of this disease in the United States after the vacine was discover in 1963. This shows the dramatic change that can occur if vaccines are distributed to those who are able to recieve them. However while the number of cases have been steadily decreasing over the past few decades there was a small resurgency of the disease in 2008.
This video from CBS news talks about the importance of getting a vaccine for any disease that can be deadly, especially for such illnesses as measles. By not vaccinating children they are put at risk for deadly consequences, many do not vaccinate due to the possibility of autism which there has been no known link between the two. CNN also did a story on the increase in measles outbreaks as well. They mention that there is concern for those who have infants can not have the vaccine until they reach the age of one which could possibly kill the child.
No comments:
Post a Comment