Unvaccinated measles outbreak in Ohio explodes, affecting children too young to get vaccinated

Walter Einenkel

Daily Kos Staff

Monday December 12, 2022 · 6:40 PM PST

2022/12/12 · 18:40

21-month-old Phoebe Jenkins receives the combined Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination at an MMR drop-in clinic at Neath Port Talbot Hospital near Swansea in south Wales on April 20, 2013. Public health officials said on April 19 they were investigating the first suspected death from measles in Britain in five years, after an outbreak blamed on a campaign against vaccinations. More than 800 people have contracted the highly contagious disease in Wales in the past six months, centred around the southern city of Swansea. Marion Lyons, director of health protection for Wales, said it had now been confirmed that a 25-year-old man from Swansea who died on April 18 had measles, a full postmortem will be conducted to determine cause of death. AFP PHOTO / GEOFF CADDICK (Photo credit should read GEOFF CADDICK/AFP via Getty Images)

TAGS

Edit Tags

Tag History

Done Editing Tags

One month ago, the measles outbreak in Ohio’s unvaccinated communities had touched seven child care centers and one school. At that point there were 18 confirmed cases. All of the cases were children, at least 15 of them under the age of 4. At least six of those children needed to be hospitalized at some point. All of the children were unvaccinated, which meant they had not received a single dose of the two-dose measles regimen.

On Monday, Columbus, Ohio, public health officials announced that the measles outbreak had now risen to 73 confirmed cases, with 26 of those people having been hospitalized at some point due to the measles. Fox28 reports that Columbus Public Health says, “67 of the cases are in those unvaccinated with the remaining cases involving partially vaccinated children or those whose vaccination status is unknown.” According to NBC4, four of the cases are partially vaccinated children who have only received one dose of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR), while two other confirmed cases include people whose vaccination status is still not known.

ArsTechnica points out that 14 of the confirmed cases were children “typically too young to be vaccinated.” One dose of the MMR, which is half the recommended schedule, has been proven to have a 93% efficacy rate against measles. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest giving children the first dose of the virus between the ages of 12 and 15 months. That means that 14 of these poor children are likely younger than a year old.

The reason we all get vaccinated against illnesses is to both protect ourselves from disease, along with those around us in our community. The more people get vaccinated, the closer we are to achieving a herd immunity that will help to protect the people who cannot be vaccinated because they are too young or because they have immune-compromised systems that either render vaccines less effective, or can be too risky for them to get the vaccine.

Unvaccinated measles outbreak in Ohio explodes, affecting children too young to get vaccinated

Comments are closed on this story.