Measles Vaccination Rates and Immigration

A recent outbreak of measles at the Eloy Detention Center has raised some concerns over disease and immigration.  The disease was carried in by an immigrant who was detained, allowing it to spread among some of the guards who were not vaccinated.  The Detention Center has since claimed that it vaccinates all migrants who are there and is working on getting all of its employees vaccinated.  Regardless, how much should we worry about measles brought in by unvaccinated immigrants?  Very little. First, measles vaccines are highly effective at containing the disease.  There are two primary measles vaccinations.  The first is the MCV-1 which should be administered to children between the ages of nine months and one year.  MCV-2 vaccinations are administered later, at the age of 15 to 18 months in countries where measles actively spreads.  In countries with very few cases of measles, like the United States, the MCV-2 is optional and is not typically administered until the child begins schooling.  Second, the nations that send immigrants tend to have high vaccination rates.  The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF report the measles vaccination rates for most countries.  Figure 1 shows those rates for 2014 by major immigrant sending country.  For the MCV-1, the United States is in the middle of the pack with 92 percent coverage and no data reported for MCV-2.  The countries of El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico, Vietnam, Cuba, China, and South Korea all have higher M...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs