of Recorded measles cases in the United States This year’s figures are already three times higher than 2023’s total, astonishing new data has emerged.
There were 188 reported measles cases in 26 states and Washington, DC, including one in upstate New York and 11 in New York City. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The cases in the upstate area emerged in January, but two of the cases in the five boroughs were reported in the past 30 days, according to CDC data.
In July alone, measles cases were reported in Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon and Vermont.
The Massachusetts lawsuit this month marks the state’s first since the start of 2020.
Cases spiked in late March, with 38 cases reported in one week, according to CDC data.
There was a smaller spike the week starting July 7, with 12 cases reported. Last week, six cases were reported.
By 2024, children under the age of five will account for almost half of cases.
No deaths from measles have been reported so far this year, but 93 patients have been hospitalized, according to the CDC.
Approximately 85% of people infected with measles to date in 2024 were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status.
Many of the cases are also linked to international travel, suggesting the disease was brought to the U.S. from people infected elsewhere, the CDC said.
“We live in a global society where vaccination rates around the world affect diseases that are transmitted in the U.S.,” said Dr. Erica Prochaska, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. He told NBC News.
“But the main problem is that the U.S. has not met the threshold for vaccinating its population,” she added.
In the 2022-23 school year, 93% of U.S. kindergarten children had received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, down from 95% in the 2019-20 school year.
Twelve states had vaccination rates below 90%.
Experts said the drop was due in part to widespread vaccine hesitancy fuelled by misinformation spread during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There have been 13 measles outbreaks so far in 2024, the largest of which occurred at a migrant shelter in Chicago in March and led to about 60 cases, NBC reported.
Earlier this month, Two people living at a migrant shelter in Clinton Hill have tested positive for measles.Officials were on a frantic mission to determine how many of the 3,000 residents had contracted the disease.
In 2023, there were 58 measles cases and only four outbreaks in the United States.
This year’s figures are the highest since 2019, when a spike of more than 1,200 measles cases caused the U.S. to nearly lose its measles-elimination status.
“It’s certainly possible that this year could be even worse than 2019,” Dr. David Hammer, a professor of global health medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health, told NBC.
But CDC data shows a similar increase is unlikely.
From 2021 to 2022, measles cases increased by 18% worldwide and measles deaths increased by 43%. According to a joint report from the CDC and the World Health Organization:.
Measles symptoms usually appear 7 to 14 days after exposure to the virus.
Common symptoms include high fever, cough, watery and bloodshot eyes, and a characteristic rash.
