The United States seems to be on track to have more measles cases
than any year in more than a decade, with virtually all cases linked to
other countries, including Europe where there's a big outbreak.
Already there have been 89 cases reported so far. The
U.S. normally sees only about 50 cases of measles in a year thanks to
vaccinations.
Health officials are reluctant to make predictions, but acknowledge the pace of reports is unusually hot.
"It's hard to say, but we're certainly getting a
lot," said Dr. Greg Wallace, who leads the measles, mumps, rubella and
polio team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Europe, especially France, has been hit hard by
measles, with more than 6,500 cases reported in 33 nations.
International health officials are blaming it on the failure to
vaccinate all children.
Just about all U.S. outbreaks were sparked by people
bringing it here from other countries. This week, international health
officials posted an alert urging travelers everywhere to get the
recommended two doses of vaccine before flying overseas.
"The risk of getting infection is very high," said
Dr. Cuauhtemoc Ruiz Matus, an immunization expert with the Pan American
Health Organization.
In the U.S., the worst year for measles in the last
decade was 2008, when 140 cases were reported. There have been no
measles deaths this year, but health officials warn the disease can be
dangerous.
Measles is highly contagious and up to 90 percent of
people exposed to an infected person get sick, experts say. The virus
spreads easily through the air, and in closed rooms, infected droplets
can linger for up to two hours after the sick person leaves.
"Measles is really the most contagious of the
vaccine-preventable diseases. It has a knack for finding those who have
not been vaccinated," Wallace said.
The disease's most common symptoms include fever,
runny nose, cough, eye inflammation and rash all over the body. It takes
about two weeks for the rash to appear from the time of first
infection, and people are contagious from four days before a rash to
four days after.
A small fraction of people get much sicker,
developing pneumonia or even encephalitis. For every 1,000 children who
get measles in developed nations, one or two will die.
Since 2003, there have been no measles-related deaths
reported in the United States, where children have been getting
vaccinated against the virus for almost 50 years. Before the vaccine,
nearly all children got measles by their 15th birthday and epidemics
cycled through the nation every two to three years — generally peaking
in the late winter or spring.