US measles cases highest in decade

[Guest guest]

I don't know about taking them away because that sets a bad precedent. However, I could see banning them from schools, daycare and such until they get the vaccine.

In a message dated 8/21/2008 9:21:37 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

It is my firm opinion that parents who persist in this nonsense have their children removed to child protective services and the parents themselves psychologically assessed. AdministratorIt's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.

[Guest guest]

Seeing as autism has been proven to be genetic in origin given the

recent mapping of the autistic genome, parents can no longer use the

thimerosal or vaccines causes autism argument as an excuse to avoid

getting their kids vaccinated.

It is my firm opinion that parents who persist in this nonsense have

their children removed to child protective services and the parents

themselves psychologically assessed.

Administrator

http://www.dailypress.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap-med-measles-outbreaksaug21,0,7714173.story

US measles cases highest in decade, health officials cite unfounded fears of vaccine risks

By MIKE STOBBE |AP Medical Writer6:35 PM EDT, August 21, 2008

ATLANTA

(AP) _ Measles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than

a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents

rejected vaccination, health officials reported Thursday.

Worried

doctors are troubled by the trend fueled by unfounded fears that

vaccines may cause autism. The number of cases is still small, just

131, but that's only for the first seven months of the year. There were

only 42 cases for all of last year.

"We're seeing a lot more

spread. That is concerning to us," said Dr. Jane Seward, of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pediatricians are frustrated, saying they are having to spend more time convincing parents the shot is safe.

"This year, we certainly have had parents asking more questions," said

Dr. Ari Brown, an Austin, Texas, physician who is a spokeswoman for the

American Academy of Pediatrics.

The CDC's review found that a

number of cases involved home-schooled children not required to get the

vaccines. Others can avoid vaccination by seeking exemptions, such as

for religious reasons.

Measles, best known for a red skin rash,

is a potentially deadly, highly infectious virus that spreads through

contact with a sneezing, coughing, infected person.

It is no

longer endemic to the United States, but every year cases enter the

country through foreign visitors or Americans returning from abroad.

Measles epidemics have exploded in Israel, Switzerland and some other

countries. But high U.S. childhood vaccination rates have prevented

major outbreaks here.

In a typical year, only one outbreak

occurs in the United States, infecting perhaps 10 to 20 people. So far

this year through July 30 the country has seen seven outbreaks,

including one in Illinois with 30 cases, said Seward, of the CDC's

Division of Viral Diseases.

None of the 131 patients died, but 15 were hospitalized.

Childhood

measles vaccination rates have stayed above 92 percent, according to

2006 data. However, the recent outbreaks suggest potential pockets of

unvaccinated children are forming. Health officials worry that

vaccination rates have begun to fall — something that won't show up in

the data for a couple of years.

The vaccine is considered highly effective but not perfect; 11 of this year's cases had at least one dose of the vaccine.

Of

this year's total, 122 were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination

status. Some were unvaccinated because the children were under age 1 —

too young to get their first measles shot.

In 63 of those cases

— almost all of them 19 or under — the patient or their parents refused

the shots for philosophical or religious reasons, the CDC reported.

In

Washington state, an outbreak was traced to a church conference,

including 16 school-aged children who were not vaccinated. Eleven of

those kids were home schooled and not subject to vaccination rules in

public schools. It's unclear why the parents rejected the vaccine.

The

Illinois outbreak — triggered by a teenager who had traveled to Italy —

included 25 home-schooled children, according to the CDC report.

The

nation once routinely saw hundreds of thousands of measles cases each

year, and hundreds of deaths. But immunization campaigns were credited

with dramatically reducing the numbers. The last time health officials

saw this many cases was 1997, when 138 were reported.

The

Academy of Pediatrics has made educating parents about the safety of

vaccines one of its top priorities this year. That's partly because

busy doctors have grown frustrated by the amount of time they're

spending answering parents' questions about things they read on the

Internet or heard from TV talk shows.

In June, the CDC

interviewed 33 physicians in Austin, suburban Seattle and Hollywood,

Fla., about childhood vaccinations. Several complained about patient

backlogs caused by parents stirred up by information of dubious

scientific merit, according to the CDC report.

Questions

commonly center on autism and the fear that it can be caused by the

measles shots or by a mercury-based preservative that used to be in

most vaccines. Health officials say there is no good scientific proof

either is a cause. Also, since 2001, the preservative has been removed

from shots recommended for young children, and it was never in the

measles-mumps-rubella combination vaccine. It can still be found in

some flu shots.

Brown said she wrote a 16-page, single-spaced

document for parents that explains childhood vaccinations and why

doctors do not believe they cause autism. She began handing it out this

spring, and thinks it's been a help to parents and a time-saver for her.

"People want that level of information," she said.

At

least one outbreak this year of another preventable disease was blamed

on lack of immunizations. At least 17 children were sick with whooping

cough at a private school in the San Francisco Bay area, and 13 were

not vaccinated against the disease, which can be fatal to children.

___

Associated Press writer Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco contributed to this story.

___

On the Net:

The CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr