Measles were declared eradicated from the U.S. over two decades ago in 2000.
Since then, there have been sporadic cases of the highly contagious disease, which mostly affects children. The statistics have gotten worse in recent years, highlighting the potentially dangerous impact of vaccine hesitancy.
The number of reported measles cases across the country rose from 49 in 2021 to 121 in 2022, then fell to 58 in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But some of those cases from the latter part of the year have contributed to the latest outbreak, raising alarm bells at the CDC.
None of the 23 confirmed measles cases between Dec. 1 and Jan. 23 were in Illinois. That doesn’t mean we’re in the clear from the potentially deadly viral infection, which has been raging globally.
There were at least four measles cases recorded in Cook County last year, the first since 2019, and herd immunity levels in schools have fallen within the last few years, a CBS 2 analysis of data from the Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools found.
Statewide, the number of under-vaccinated schools — schools in which vaccination rates were lower than the 95% recommended by the CDC — jumped 77%, from 497 in 2019 to 882 by the start of the 2022 school year, according to the CBS 2 analysis
The news has us seeing red, and we’re not just talking about spots that come with measles.
It is frustrating enough that so many Americans refused, and still refuse, to get vaccinated against COVID-19, putting their well-being and others’ health at risk.
Parents who put their children in harm’s way by not getting them vaccinated for the coronavirus, measles or other illnesses are only exacerbating the problem of allowing infectious diseases to spread unnecessarily.
The recent measles cases in the northeast were mostly children and adolescents who had not received a vaccine, a CDC alert issued to health care providers said.
The good news: The majority of Americans, 88%, say the benefits of childhood vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) outweigh the risks, a Pew Research Center survey from last year revealed.
The bad news: There is a smaller majority of those who feel that children should be vaccinated in order to attend public schools than in previous years and the percentage who say parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their children also jumped up to 28%, compared to 16% five years ago.
The rise in measles cases clearly shows that education must continue, to convince mothers and fathers that vaccines are vital to keeping their children, and his or her peers, from becoming seriously ill — or even worse, dying.
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