CDC: Rise in Imported Measles Cases Threatens US

Although a highly effective vaccine against measles was approved 50 years ago, the virus remains a serious threat to Americans, with a spike in new cases this year that ranks among the worst in the past decade, Centers for Disease Control Director Tom Friedan, MD, MPH reported today.

“Measles is the single most infectious of all diseases,” says Dr. Friedan, adding that nearly 200 US cases have been reported so far this year. Of
these cases, almost all have been traced to “imported” infections from people who brought the virus to the US after foreign travel, triggering at least 9 American outbreaks in 2013.

To date, this year, about 20 Americans have been hospitalized with measles, with no deaths so far, the CDC reported. Fewer than 2 percent of the total measles cases reported in the US this year occurred in people who were fully vaccinated against the disease, Dr. Friedan says.
Measles No Longer “Native” to the United States

The announcement coincides with publication of a new study in JAMA Pediatrics stating that endemic measles, rubella (German measles), and congenital rubella syndrome have been “eliminated” from the Western hemisphere.

The study found that since 2001, 84 percent of US measles cases and 54 percent of rubella cases were linked to importation. In other words, the virus was brought to the US by Americans or foreigners who became infected in other countries, and then spread the disease here.

Measles is still prevalent in other countries—including more than 25,000 cases in Western Europe in each of the past 3 years, said Dr. Friedan. Globally, an average of 430 kids die every day from measles, with an estimated 158,000 deaths from the disease occurring in 2011.

Infected travelers from countries where the disease is still prevalent, including France, Spain, and the UK, as well as developing countries, continue to trigger small outbreaks in the US (defined by the CDC as 3 or more related cases occurring).

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Next Outbreak Just a Plane Ride Away

Essentially, the next measles outbreak is just a plane ride away, since the highly contagious virus is spread through airborne droplets released when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or speaks.

The doctor who played a major role in developing the vaccine, Samuel L. Katz, M.D., emeritus professor of medicine at Duke University, emphasized that even though the number of measles cases in the US is small, it’s crucial for kids to be fully vaccinated.

The CDC reports that the vaccine Dr. Katz developed has prevented the deaths of at least 10 million children in the past decade—representing 20 percent of all deaths that have been prevented by modern medicine.

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A World Without Measles on the Horizon

“The challenge is not whether we shall see a world without measles, but when,” Dr. Katz said.  However, in a way, the vaccine has been a victim of its own success, since many parents don’t realize what a dangerous threat the disease used to be.

It’s becoming increasingly common, particularly in Western Europe, for parents not to vaccinate their kids, leading to the large outbreaks seen in those nations—and the much smaller rise in the US.
Protecting Kids from a Deadly Childhood Disease

Measles ranks as the most deadly of all childhood rash/fever-related diseases, the CDC reports. To be fully protected, kids should get their first dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine at ages 12 to 15 months, followed by a second dose before they start kindergarten at 4 to 6 years of age.

Dr. Friedan recommends that babies traveling to countries with high rates of measles get the first dose at 6 months of age. In addition, adults born after 1957 should be vaccinated if they haven’t already received 2 doses of the vaccine, or had measles, he added.

It’s not necessary for people born before 1957 to be vaccinated, since measles was so rampant prior to that year that everybody born before then is already immune, stated Dr. Friedan.