California Measles Outbreak
Amid all of the very highly publicized concerns about vaccine safety from celebrities (Jenny McCarthy, Oprah, etc.) and the media and calls from some people for fewer vaccines and alternative immunization schedules, California quietly had a measles outbreak last month.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an unvaccinated 7 year old traveled to Switzerland with his family, where he was exposed to and became infected with measles. He then proceeded to infect 11 other children, including several unvaccinated children at his school and 4 children who had contact with him at his pediatrician's office. These 4 children included three infants who were under twelve months old and therefore too young to get their first MMR vaccine, which they could have gotten after their first birthday.
This measles outbreak highlights how quickly these vaccine preventable diseases can spread and how kids are still at risk from catching these infections from parts of the world where they are not controlled as well as they are in the U.S. It also highlights the risk that unvaccinated kids put other children at who have not yet received their vaccines or have problems with their immune systems (cancer treatments, illnesses, etc.), even in the presumed safety of their own pediatrician's office.
Especially as we often have vaccine shortages, parents should strongly consider that skipping vaccines or trying an alternative vaccine schedule, where children get fewer or delayed vaccines, will likely put children at risk for more vaccine preventable illnesses, like measles, pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal meningitis, and Haemophilus influenzae Type b (Hib) meningitis.
Also keep in mind that in addition to the sicknesses in these children, many other children were quarantined for weeks and couldn't attend daycare, and thousands of other people were exposed and had to worry if they would also get sick with measles.
Related:
Outbreak of Measles --- San Diego, California, January--February 2008
Vaccine Preventable Illnesses
Immunization Issues - Cause or Coincidence
Concerned about vaccines?
The Safety of Multiple Vaccines
Vaccines: Separating Fact from Fear
Comments
How selfish of the parents of the 7 year old! The infected child can’t make the vaccine decision for himself but to expose others who are not even old enough for the vaccine is totally irresponsible! If you’re not going to vaccinate you child…don’t take them out in public!!!!!
MMMkay…. Lauren, seriously there are worse things to get completely paranoid about. Parents are conditioned to believe that vaccines give their child a free pass from disease, which is a fallacy. Doctors are indoctrinated to believe that vaccines are the best thing since sliced bread while still in medical school - at seminars and lectures presented by pharma companies that MAKE VACCINES. My thoughts on the controversy - dont be a sheeple and just do what Dr.’s tell you - be an informed consumer. Read the vaccine info sheets, read the many papers that have been published both FOR and AGAINST vaccination, and make your own decision.
Another interesting point is why the doctor who wrote this article left out key facts - all the quarantined children were kids who had vaccine exemptions who chose quarantine over immediate vaccination. Also of note - it was 3 babies who were under a year , not four, and ALL of the kids who became ill were unvaccinated.,Meaning that your whole argument about endangering the health of kids whose parents had done the right thing.They were all unvaccinated BY CHOICE the parents fully taking the risk and knowing the possible outcome. I distrust you, Dr Ianelli, since you can’t even be trusted to get the facts straight, or are else manipulating the facts to put a scare into parents towards “unvaccianted” kids. You need to read the CDC case:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5708a3.htm
ALL of the kids who became ill were unvaccinated.,Meaning that your whole argument about endangering the health of kids whose parents had done the right thing.
Yes. The older kids who got sick had parents who chose not to vaccinate their kids, but what about the infants who got sick in the pediatrician’s office from exposure to the first kid with measles? The CDC has not reported that those parents were against vaccines - only that the children were too young to get their MMR at their first birthday.
I did use the CDC report as a reference:
“a total of 11 additional measles cases in unvaccinated infants and children aged 10 months–9 years were identified. These 11 cases included both of the index patient’s siblings (rash onset: February 3), five children in his school (rash onset: January 31–February 17), and four additional children (rash onset: February 6–10) who had been in the pediatrician’s office on January 25 at the same time as the index patient.”
“Overall, approximately 70 children exposed to children with measles in the school, a day care center, the pediatrician’s office, and other community settings were placed under voluntary home quarantine because their parents either declined measles vaccination or they were too young to be vaccinated.”
“In Hawaii, ongoing response measures include following up airplane and other contacts of the infant who traveled to Hawaii to inform them of their potential exposure and refer them to their physicians regarding their susceptibility to measles. Five exposed infants, four airplane contacts, and one personal acquaintance were administered immune globulin within 72 hours of exposure.“
Yes. The older kids who got sick had parents who chose not to vaccinate their kids, but what about the infants who got sick in the pediatrician’s office from exposure to the first kid with measles? The CDC has not reported that those parents were against vaccines - only that the children were too young to get their MMR at their first birthday.
Exactly!