Recent statistics have shown that the number of cases of measles has tripled in the US in 2013. Most likely culprit is the refusal by parents to get their children vaccinated. This trend has been seen primarily in Europe but is gaining popularity in the US too.
What exactly is Measles?
According to the CDC; Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus. The disease of measles and the virus that causes it share the same name. The disease is also called rubeola. Measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and lungs.
Most common symptoms are fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. But complications in children may often include ear infections and pneumonia. A more serious consequence may be meningitis which may lead to death in children.
While measles is almost gone from the United States, it still kills an estimated 164,000 people each year around the world. Measles can also make a pregnant woman have a miscarriage or give birth prematurely. Measles is mostly spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing. It is so contagious that any child exposed to it and is not immune to it, will most likely get it.
But today AFP reported;
'Europe is big threat to resurgence of Measles in US'
After a decade of near total US elimination of measles due in large part to blanket immunizations of children, a surge of 175 cases have been documented so far this year, experts say.
That number is almost triple the average 60 cases of US measles per year over the last decade, said findings of a government study published in the Journal of American Medical Association.
And Europe was the source of almost half (25) of the 52 measles cases that are classed as direct importations from abroad this year, a CDC spokesman told AFP. (Complete Story)
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