Measles, which was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, is having its worst breakout in over two decades. Cases of the highly infectious disease have been reported in up to 19 states and Mexico.
The outbreak started in December of 2014 in Disneyland, California. Officials believe the disease was brought by someone traveling from abroad. As of Monday, 107 cases were confirmed in the state, at least third linked to the outbreak according to the New York Times.
California has the majority of the cases, followed by Arizona with seven cases, according the Wall Street Journal. Some other states include, four in Washington, two cases in New York, one in Pennsylvania, and one New Jersey.
According to Anne Schuchat, director of the immunization center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. saw more measles cases in 2014 than any year since 1994. There have also been more measles cases in 2015, than in most full years since 2000, she said.
Most people recover from measles within a few weeks, but it can be fatal in some cases. The first measles vaccine is usually given to children between 12 and 15 months old.
This outbreak has revived the debate over the anti-vaccination movement. A movement that fears negative side effects such as autism, leading some parents to refuse to have their child vaccinated. Fears which were fed by now-discredited research said the NY Times.
California public health officials are warning people against “measles parties.” “Parties” in which parent’s intentionally expose their unvaccinated children to the measles virus. According the LA Times a mother was invited to do this, but she declined. No “measles parties” have been confirmed.
“We have a measles vaccine today, which is incredibly safe and highly effective,” said Dr. Art Reingold, head of epidemiology at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “It just doesn’t make sense to say ‘I’d rather have my kids get the measles than the measles vaccine.’ That’s … based on misinformation that the measles is a benign childhood illness,” he said.
Health officials believe the idea was inspired by a similar idea, called “pox parties,” which were popular in the 1980s, before the chickenpox vaccine was widely accessible. Parent’s would expose their children to chickenpox intentionally, before they became adults. The thinking was they would become less sick the younger they were. Despite concerns, there are still reports of “pox parties” in present day, even though the chickenpox vaccine is widely available said the LA Times.