Measles Outbreaks Continue

We continue to get reports of measles outbreaks and new records almost every day.

In addition to the small outbreaks in the United States, that have all added up to the worst year for measles since 1996, with over 150 cases, we continue to hear about the large outbreaks in other countries.

Of course, it is the measles outbreaks in these other countries, such as France and the UK, that have led to the outbreaks here.

In the UK, there are reports of 496 measles cases so far this year, which is already more than the total number of cases in 2010 (374 cases).

Quebec, Canada has seen more cases already this year (254 cases), then any other year in all of Canada since the mid-1990s.

As expected though, France comes in with the highest number of cases, with reports of nearly 20,000 since January 2008. Of three major epidemic waves of measles since then, the largest has been this spring, with reports of over 12,500 cases in 2011 alone. In addition to two deaths associated with measles in 2010, this year, France reports six deaths, 14 cases of measles encephalitis, and 444 cases of severe pneumonia.

The only good news that seems to have come out of the latest report about measles from France's Institute for Public Health is that measles cases seemed to have peaked in March (3,600 cases) and decreased in April (3,100 cases) and May (2,000 cases).

That's still a lot of measles cases though and a good reminder to make sure you and your kids are up-to-date on all measles vaccination recommendations, especially if you will be traveling out of the country.

Get Educated. Get Vaccinated. Stop the Measles Outbreaks.

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