Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Measles Tally Climbs Again This Week To 839 Cases, Creeping Ever Closer To 1994's Record Year
The New York Times: Largest U.S. Measles Outbreak In 25 Years Surpasses 800 Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday reported a new total of 839 individual cases of measles across 23 states so far this year, as the largest outbreak of measles in the United States in a quarter century continued. Pennsylvania is the latest state with a measles outbreak, though most cases have occurred in New York, Michigan and Washington State. The disease spread in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and in Rockland County, New York, before being carried to Michigan. A large outbreak in southern Washington State spread mostly among unvaccinated children under 10 years old. And in late April, hundreds of people were put under quarantine at two Los Angeles universities after an outbreak there. (Cai, Lu and Reinhard, 5/13)
The Associated Press: US Measles Cases Still Climbing, Topping 800 For Year
In all, 23 states have reported cases this year. The vast majority of illnesses have been in New York — most of them among unvaccinated people in Orthodox Jewish communities. That pattern continued last week, with most of the 75 new cases coming from New York. (5/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Measles Outbreaks, Up To 839 Cases, Show No Sign Of Slowing
Several states, including New York, are considering measures to restrict exemptions to school vaccination requirements on religious grounds.An Alabama lawmaker filed a bill last week to eliminate that state’s religious exemption. Connecticut lawmakers are considering amending legislation or adding a bill to the legislative session that would eliminate a religious exemption. Dozens of antivaccination advocates, many of whom said that their children were harmed by vaccines, testified for hours Monday in Connecticut at an informational hearing on the topic. (McKay, 5/13)
The Hill: Measles Outbreak Tops 830 Cases Across The Country
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who is also running for president, signed a bill Friday that eliminated personal or philosophical exemptions from the MMR vaccine. “We should be listening to science and medicine, not social media,” Inslee said during a press conference. "It is science and truth that will keep us healthy, rather than fear.” (Weixel, 5/13)
NPR: How A Measles Outbreak Was Halted In The 1990s
This year's measles outbreak is the largest since the 1990s. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that 75 more measles cases were confirmed last week in 23 states, bringing the U.S. total to 839 so far this year. The outbreak from 1989 through 1991 was much larger than today's, with more than 27,000 cases in 1990 alone. But the conditions that lead to that outbreak and what it took to end it are dramatically different from the ones the U.S. is seeing today. (Hogan, 5/13)
And in other news on the outbreak —
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Measles Researcher Blames Outbreak On Vaccine Disinformation, Social Media
To fight the measles outbreak that has spread to 23 states, authorities must reduce vaccine exemptions and fight a tide of social media disinformation, a national expert told more than 200 students and faculty Monday at the Medical College of Wisconsin. ...Although measles was declared to have been eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, the nation has confirmed 839 cases this year through May 10. (Johnson, 5/13)
