CDC on Alert as Measles Cases Soar, Hospitalizing Many Children in the US 

United States: The incidence of measles has risen in the United States, and the cases reported from January to April this year were approximately 17 times the mean reports of similar periods in the previous four years, as noted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

A local CBS News informed that about half of the infected people, most of whom were children, have been admitted to the hospital. 

The sorry scenario is set to escalate further with more parents deciding not to give their children measles shots as well as polio and pertussis. 

Vaccine Skeptics 

A popular skepticism is that vaccines are not required because the diseases, which these vaccines prevent, are not lethal or are extremely rare. 

Some critics have opined that the levels of fear being put in the people over measles are unwarranted, considering that states across the country have recorded the disease. 

More about Measles 

Measles is responsible for the deaths of nearly 2 per 1000 children who contract the disease, with the CDC as the reference. While this might seem like a small risk, consider that many children with measles develop severe pneumonia and other complications requiring hospitalization, as reported by CBS News. 

For every ten children with measles, one will suffer from conditions leading to ear infections and potential hearing loss. Additionally, the measles virus weakens a person’s immune system, leaving them vulnerable to various strains of influenza and other minor illnesses. 

Globally, measles vaccines have prevented at least 94 million deaths, primarily among children, in the past five decades, according to a study by the World Health Organization in April. 

Immunizations for diseases like polio and others, along with vaccines, are credited with saving 1.5 billion and 154 million lives, respectively, worldwide. 

Despite this, some skeptics argue that measles, a preventable disease through vaccination, is no longer a threat due to its relatively low prevalence in the US. 

A Florida-based surgeon, Joseph Ladapo, told parents of those students sent unvaccinated to school amid the measles outbreak in February, “You look at the headlines, and you’d think the sky was falling,” and “There’s a lot of immunity.” 

As this lax attitude encourages the parents to avoid the vaccination, herd immunity will reduce, and the epidemics will increase in size and frequency. 

The measles outbreak in Samoa quickly showed that the population was under-vaccinated in 2019 and claimed 83 lives in the initial four months. 

A measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been cyclical throughout the year, killed more than 5,600 individuals because of the constant deficiency of measles vaccination.