It is only May, but officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already know this will be one of the nation’s worst years for measles in the past decade.
The nation had 37 cases of measles 10 years ago in 2004 and 66 the next year. Since January, 168 cases have been reported, according to CDC documents. If no more cases were reported, 2014 would rank as the third-highest year for measles cases since 1997.
Fifteen states, two of them bordering Arkansas, have reported cases of measles, according to the CDC. Texas has reported four cases, and Tennessee has reported one case.
Arkansas does not have any reported cases of measles this year. The last time the state had a case of measles was in 2012, said Dirk Haselow, state epidemiologist. He said fewer than five cases were reported in the state that year.
“If you are vaccinated, it is very unlikely for you to develop measles,” Haselow said.
Haselow said the vaccination has a 95 percent effective rate after one dose and a 99 percent rate after the second dose.
The disease is highly contagious. It is an infection of the respiratory system and immune system. Symptoms include skin rash, reddening of the eyes, runny nose, fever and possibly diarrhea, Haselow said. He said 15 to 20 percent of people who contract measles have to be hospitalized.
“It is one of the more severe rash illnesses that continues to exist,” Haselow said.
Two out of 1,000 people who contract measles die, he said.
Robert Hopkins Jr., a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, said an increase in measles cases in recent years could be caused by a combination of things. He said it could be because fewer people are being vaccinated, which is more prevalent in European countries.
“A lot of this is tied back into the conspiracy that the vaccine is tied to autism,” Hopkins said. He said a wealth of evidence has proven that the vaccine does not cause autism.
In the United States, outbreaks generally occur after someone carries the virus from a foreign country. However, clusters of people undervaccinated or not vaccinated can cause an outbreak.
A look at vaccinations of children in kindergarten in 2012 and 2013 found that 95 percent overall in the nation were vaccinated, according to a CDC report.
Hopkins said vaccination rates vary from state to state, region to region and sometimes country to country. He said in Arkansas, the northwest corner tends to have the most people choosing to exempt their children from receiving vaccinations when the children enter school.
Metro on 05/16/2014