We are finally learning more about all of the recent measles cases that have been occurring around the United States. Although there have only been 64 cases, that is the highest number of cases that we have seen in the US in seven years, which is especially troubling for a disease that was supposedly eliminated here in 2000.

According to the CDC, as of April 25, 2008, there have been cases of measles in New York City (22 cases), Arizona (15), California (12), Michigan and Wisconsin (four each), Hawaii (three), and Illinois, New York state, Pennsylvania, and Virginia (one each).

Not surprisingly, most of the measles cases were in unvaccinated children, either because they had a nonmedical exemption, had not received their measles vaccine yet, or were simply too young to get their MMR vaccine at their one year checkup, which is why the CDC states that "the measles cases and outbreaks in 2008 result primarily from failure to vaccinate, many because of personal or religious exemption." They are also almost all linked to measles outbreaks in countries with large groups of unvaccinated people, including Switzerland, Israel, Belgium, Italy, and India.

How can you protect your children from these measles outbreaks? Staying current with your child's immunizations is a great way to start, which will also protect them from other vaccine preventable illnesses. If your child is exposed to measles and hasn't been fully vaccinated yet, then he should likely get a measles vaccine as soon as possible.

Fortunately, high coverage rates in most children (herd immunity) has kept these current measles outbreaks from spreading even further. With dropping vaccine rates, that may not be the case in the future though, and measles cases may continue to rise even higher.