A measles outbreak in the United States has gained two lives, since hundreds of people have been infected and a large number of hospitalized children with complications.
The authorities say that the best way to prevent outbreaks is through vaccination.
But some doctors have reported that patients are skeptics of immunization and that there are large pockets of communities not vaccinated in the United States.
In fact, experts say that there has been a decrease worldwide and not only in the United States, due to problems with access to vaccines, and the increase in suspicions and distrust in them.
As the United States fights with a resurgence of the disease, is there a risk of anti -caccinos messages that can be consolidated in Australia?
How do you see the US measles outbreak. UU.
The number of cases confirmed this year has already exceeded the total of 285 recorded in 2024.
Some 17 states have registered more than 370 measles cases, according to the US disease control and prevention centers, with 64 hospitalizations and two deaths. Most cases are in children who are not vaccinated or whose vaccination status is known.
Until now, three outbreaks have been informed (defined as three or more related cases) this year, with 90 percent of the confirmed cases (341 of 378) associated with outbreaks.
Measles was considered once eliminated in the US. UU., Thanks to the MMR vaccine and high immunization rates.
But it is a highly contagious disease and experts say that at least at least 95 percent of a community must be vaccinated to stop outbreaks. That is not the case in the United States.
Vaccination rates have decreased throughout the country in the US. From the COVID-19 pandemic, and most states are below the vaccination threshold for infants.
A child receives a MMR vaccine in the American state of Texas on March 1, where cases are increasing. Fountain: Getty / Jan Sonnenmair
International perspective
Last week, the Government of Mexico said it would intensify a measles vaccination campaign after cases increased in an area that borders the United States.
Mexico had confirmed 43 measles cases, 39 of which were recorded in the northern state of Chihuahua and linked to imported infections.
In Vietnam, a recent statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) said a measles outbreak there “was still very current.” Some recent media reports say that the country has registered around 40,000 suspicious cases since the beginning of the year.
In Europe, measles cases doubled in Europe in 2024 to a maximum of 25 years, according to WHO.
Last year, 127,350 measles cases and 38 deaths in the WHO European region were recorded, which has 53 countries and includes Central Asia.
Half of European cases required hospitalization, WHO said, noting that 40 percent of cases involved children under five years.
Victoria’s health director recently warned that the number of cases increased in Thailand, India, Africa and the Middle East.
Measles in Australia
The National System of Notifiable Diseases of the Department of Health has reported 37 infections in Australia this year.
In 2024, 57 cases were registered, compared to 26 in 2023.
WHO declared measles eliminated from Australia in 2014, but the virus can still enter international trips. The confirmed cases of this year are mainly returned travelers and their nearby contacts, and most of them have been in Nueva Wales del Sur and Victoria.
Australia is below the objective rate of measles vaccination of the World Health Organization of 95 percent, according to the Department of Health.
Access to vaccine and skepticism in Australia
The associated professor Frank Beard is with the National Immunization Research and Surveillance Center, which informs each year on vaccination rates throughout the country.
“The vaccination coverage has been dragged in recent years since the Covid-19 pandemic … so (a) modest decrease, but it is worrying because before the pandemic, the coverage had increased quite constantly for the last eight years or so,” he said.
Pediatrician Margie Danchin, from the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Child Research Institute, said the decrease had been especially seen in private communities and age groups.
She said that the coverage rates of the child vaccine at ages one, two and five have been constantly decreasing in Australia since 2020.
“The greatest decrease has been in the children of the first nations at that time of one to two years, particularly in the northern territory, for example,” he said.
“We have a big problem in Australia, and we are also ready for a measles outbreak in this country, not only in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Measles is caused by a virus and is presented as an eruption with highly infectious itching with fever. It mainly affects children, but an infection generally gives immunity for life. Credit: Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Libra/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra
Danchin said there were also clearly defined geographical areas in Australia that had lower vaccine coverage.
“In general, the vaccination coverage against measles is reasonably high. Of course, that depends geographically … we have quite large bags of low vaccine coverage around Australia, for example, in the northern region of the rivers in Nueva Wales del Sur, but also inside Melbourne and Sydney,” he said.
If the suspicion and distrust of the vaccines were behind lower vaccination rates in the US., That is not the case of Australia, Danchin said.
While there are vaccine skeptics, access is the main problem.
“There are practical barriers to vaccination. Therefore, not being able to make an appointment or pay the appointment. Not being able to travel to get an appointment if a mother has many children or have free time at work, for example,” he said.
Beard said there was concern about local outbreaks due to gaps in vaccination coverage, and unaccoured people brought measles with them after traveling abroad.
“Australia was certified by the World Health Organization such as having eliminated local measles transmission here in 2014. Since then, we have had some cases and outbreaks, and they have almost always been linked to unvaccinated people,” he said.
“The Australians go abroad and then return with measles; or tourists from abroad with measles. Therefore, there have been many measles outbreaks in recent years abroad that increases the risk that measles is imported to Australia.”
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