The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
https://nypost.com/2019/08/28/us-may-lose-measles-elimination-status-because-of-new-york-outbreaks/
US may lose measles elimination status because of New York outbreaks
By Kenneth Garger
August 28, 2019 | 1:16pm
A nurse enters a New York-based health department where a measles outbreak has sickened scores of locals
AFP/Getty Images
New York’s ongoing measles outbreak may cause the United States to lose its measles elimination status — an achievement that’s been in place since 2000 and signaled the eradication of the disease, according to a report.
Come October there’s a “reasonable chance” the World Health Organization will remove America’s status, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases told CNN.
“It certainly is incredibly frustrating and upsetting to the public health community that we may lose measles elimination status, because we do have a safe and effective vaccine,” she told the network.
If a county has suffered ongoing measles outbreaks for at least a year, the WHO will remove their measles elimination status, the report said.
Messonnier said that the CDC next week plans to release an official statement detailing America’s measles elimination status.
As of August 22, there have been 1,215 confirmed measles cases across 30 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency said that’s the most cases in the country since 1992, with more than 75% of them occurring in the city and across New York state.
The area’s biggest outbreaks have been concentrated in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County.
Communities where groups of people are not vaccinated are the most susceptible, the CDC warned.
In response to New York’s outbreaks, the state passed a new law last June that eliminated all non-medical, religious exemptions to vaccines.
US may lose measles elimination status because of New York outbreaks
By Kenneth Garger
August 28, 2019 | 1:16pm
A nurse enters a New York-based health department where a measles outbreak has sickened scores of locals
AFP/Getty Images
New York’s ongoing measles outbreak may cause the United States to lose its measles elimination status — an achievement that’s been in place since 2000 and signaled the eradication of the disease, according to a report.
Come October there’s a “reasonable chance” the World Health Organization will remove America’s status, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases told CNN.
“It certainly is incredibly frustrating and upsetting to the public health community that we may lose measles elimination status, because we do have a safe and effective vaccine,” she told the network.
If a county has suffered ongoing measles outbreaks for at least a year, the WHO will remove their measles elimination status, the report said.
Messonnier said that the CDC next week plans to release an official statement detailing America’s measles elimination status.
As of August 22, there have been 1,215 confirmed measles cases across 30 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency said that’s the most cases in the country since 1992, with more than 75% of them occurring in the city and across New York state.
The area’s biggest outbreaks have been concentrated in ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County.
Communities where groups of people are not vaccinated are the most susceptible, the CDC warned.
In response to New York’s outbreaks, the state passed a new law last June that eliminated all non-medical, religious exemptions to vaccines.