Just how contagious is measles? Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Which is why every day since Disneyland was identified as ground zero of the Jan. 1 measles outbreak, more cases are reported.
Health officials say 79 cases have been diagnosed in California, with an additional cases in 11 states, including Utah, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Mexico. Arizona is on the list, with seven confirmed cases and possibly many more to come: On Thursday, health officials in the Phoenix area — where thousands are arriving daily for the Super Bowl on Sunday — were tracking more than 1,000 people, including at least 195 children, who might have been exposed. One of the seven cases of measles involves a woman who walked into a Maricopa County pediatric clinic recently, potentially exposing about 200 children. Officials are asking residents who have not been vaccinated and who might have been exposed, to stay home from school, work or day care for 21 days.
Scary, scary stuff. The only upside: A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health said the outbreak had prompted a surge in requests for vaccinations, the New York Times reported. Here in Snohomish County, pediatrician Wendy Sue Swanson told the Washington Post the Disneyland outbreak is motivating parents who might have fallen behind on their children’s shots, or were on the fence about their necessity or safety, to take action. “Their eagerness was different,” Swanson said of one couple. “I think it is changing people.”
These types of parents, labeled “vaccine-hesitant,” are more prevalent than the hardcore “anti-vaxxers,” according to medical studies. An estimated 5 percent to 11 percent of U.S. parents have skipped at least one vaccination or delayed a shot, compared to only 1 percent to 3 percent of parents who object to all vaccinations, the Post reported. Getting the “vaccine-hesitant” on board would have major, positive implications, doctors say.
Before measles vaccines became commonplace in 1963, about 3 million to 4 million Americans a year contracted the disease, the CDC said, and 400 to 500 died from it. Because the vaccine is so successful, many people, including doctors, have never encountered a case of it, leading some parents to think the threat had been eliminated. But the threat is only eliminated by immunization.
Meanwhile this week, the U.S. government approved plans to donate $1 billion over the next four years to Geneva-based GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, to fund immunizations for millions of children in developing countries. Since 2000, GAVI has been able to immunize a half-billion children, preventing more than 6 million deaths. However, lack of access to vaccines in developing countries results in 1.5 million preventable deaths every year, and more funding is required to immunize a further 300 million children.
The disconnect between this global effort to eliminate preventable disease and parents in developed countries who refuse or are reluctant to vaccinate their children is mind-boggling and dangerous.
The science is indisputable. So please get off the fence and get your children (and/or yourself) vaccinated.
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