Measles Outbreak, Measles Vaccine: Top Questions Answered

By: Tia Ghose, Rachael Rettner and Tanya Lewis Published: 02/06/2015 10:17 AM EST on LiveScience The U.S. measles outbreak now includes at least 102 infected people in 14 states. Most of the cases have been tied to Disneyland in Southern California. The outbreak has many people wondering why a disease that was eradicated from the United States in the year 2000 is now infecting so many people, and what role vaccination requirements may have had in the outbreak. We asked experts to explain how the vaccine works and why the outbreak is happening now. Why is the outbreak happening now? Most of the cases of measles reported so far in 2015 are part of a large, ongoing outbreak linked to Disneyland in Anaheim, California, according to the California Department of Public Health(CDPH). The theme park has many international visitors, and measles is brought into the United States every year by unvaccinated travelers who contract the disease in other countries, especially in Western Europe, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines, according to the CDPH. In addition, people who live in the U.S. and travel overseas can contract the virus and spread it to unprotected people after they return home, which can lead to an outbreak. In 2014, there were more than 600 cases of measles in the U.S. The largest outbreak of the disease involved 383 of these cases, and occurred primarily among unvaccinated people living in Amish communities in Ohio. There were also 22 other (mostly much smaller) o...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news