Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Standard Playbook For Stopping Measles Outbreak Is Getting Tossed As Officials Turn To Community Insiders For Help
The Wall Street Journal: What Can Stop The Measles Outbreak? Officials Lean On An Unlikely Band Of Locals
To fight the biggest measles outbreak in the U.S. in more than a quarter-century, public-health officials have tried robocalls, vaccination audits, vaccination orders and $1,000 fines. This is the standard playbook and it hasn’t worked to stop the disease’s spread. Now, officials are increasingly counting on an informal network of community groups, religious leaders and local medical practitioners. Blima Marcus, a 34-year-old oncology nurse practitioner, is working to counter antivaccination messages that have taken root in New York City’s insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities where measles has spread. (McKay and West, 5/5)
Reuters: U.S. Doctors Use Medical Records To Fight Measles Outbreak
U.S. doctors are tapping into their electronic medical records to identify unvaccinated patients and potentially infected individuals to help contain the worst U.S. measles outbreak in 25 years. New York's NYU Langone Health network of hospitals and medical offices treats patients from both Rockland County and Brooklyn, two epicenters of the outbreak. It has built alerts into its electronic medical records system to notify doctors and nurses that a patient lives in an outbreak area, based on their Zip code. (Steenhuysen, 5/5)
Sacramento Bee: CA Adults Near Outbreaks May Need Another Measles Vaccine: CDC
Most of the measles cases during the recent historic outbreak have occurred in children, but adults in high risk environments – like UCLA or California State University, Los Angeles, where people were exposed to the virus – may need to get another dose of the vaccine, according to the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults born before 1957, when the vaccine was introduced, are assumed to have immunity from the disease. But adults born between 1957 and 1989 may have received only one, potentially weaker, dose or no doses. (Jasper, 5/3)
The New York Times: A Pregnant Woman Avoids Transit, Parents Battle In Court And Other Tales Of Measles Anxiety
A 40-year-old pregnant woman who fears catching measles on the New York City subway walks eight miles round trip from her home in Brooklyn to her job in Manhattan. Two New Jersey parents who don’t agree about vaccines and are now getting divorced have asked a judge to make a ruling on if their children should be vaccinated. As measles cases in the United States have risen to 700, affecting 22 states, Americans who are fearful the disease will reach them are taking strong measures to defend themselves. (Moore, 5/3)
