The U.S. Is Experiencing Its Second Highest Count Of Measles Cases In Decades. Why?

The Washington Post: How Does Measles Spread? Do I Need Another MMR Vaccine Shot? How Dangerous Is Measles? FAQ On The Outbreaks.
The United States is experiencing its second-highest number of measles cases in nearly two decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the diagnosed cases have climbed to 465. At least 19 states have reported cases of the highly contagious virus. New York City officials have ordered mandatory measles vaccinations to halt an outbreak. The outbreaks are linked to people who traveled from countries such as Israel, Ukraine and the Philippines, where large measles outbreaks are occurring. The disease is spreading in U.S. communities that have relatively high numbers of people who have not been vaccinated against measles. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about measles, which can cause serious complications among all age groups, especially young children, adults with weakened immune systems, and the very elderly. (Sun, 4/11)

The New York Times: Measles Outbreak: Tensions Rise As New York City Steps Up Response
Vaccine skeptics were planning a lawsuit against New York City. A Hasidic woman was heckled when she boarded a public bus. Family members were avoiding weddings for fear of encountering unvaccinated relatives. When Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday an emergency health order requiring measles vaccinations, he said the step was necessary to curtail the large measles outbreak in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. But as health officials plunged into Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood to enforce the mandate, tensions only escalated. (Pager, 4/11)

The Washington Post: New York City Vaccination Order Shines Spotlight On Insular Jewish Community
Even among New York’s Hasidic Jews, members of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar sect are known for their strict religious and cultural traditions. They speak mainly Yiddish. They shun the secular world. They are skeptical, if not suspicious, of anyone from outside their insular community in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. Now the refusal of some parents to vaccinate their children — a decision not based on any religious proscription — and a resulting measles outbreak have brought public health authorities to their doorsteps in a collision of cultures that could turn messy. (Bernstein, Sun and Paluch, 4/11)

The Hill: De Blasio Defends Vaccination Mandate From Planned Legal Challenge 
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) vowed Thursday that the city would defeat a lawsuit challenging his order for members of a Brooklyn neighborhood experiencing a measles outbreak to get vaccinated or pay a $1,000 fine. In an interview with WCBS news radio, the mayor blamed the lawsuit on efforts by anti-vaccination activists to mislead people about the supposed dangers of inoculation. (Bowden, 4/11)

Detroit Free Press: Doctors: As Michigan Measles Outbreak Grows, Check Vaccination Status
Check yourself, public health officials say, as the number of cases in a Michigan measles outbreak climbed Friday by five more people to 39 cases — the largest statewide outbreak since 1991. Even if you think you've been vaccinated for the measles, ask your doctor to check your immunization record to be sure. If you have proof you received two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR), you should still ask to have the antibodies in your blood checked, especially if you've been to one of the growing number of exposure sites in Michigan. (Shamus, 4/11)

Columbus Dispatch: Health Officials Hope To Prevent Measles Outbreaks In Ohio Through Frank Conversations, Education
According to the CDC, the percentage of Ohio toddlers who have received the recommended doses of vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella has declined in recent years. National Immunization Survey data showed 95.6 percent of 19- to 35-month-old Ohio children had the vaccine in 2014. But by 2017, the percentage had dropped to 88.3 percent.Public-health experts say measles is highly contagious and demands a coverage rate of at least 90 to 95 percent for “herd immunity,” the term for broad resistance among the general public. (Price, 4/12)

NH Times Union: One Measles Case Reported In NH Amid Rise In U.S. Outbreaks 
While there has been one diagnosis of measles reported in New Hampshire this year, there have been more than 465 cases throughout the country in 2019 — already surpassing the total number of outbreaks from all of 2018. ...According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 states have reported cases of measles this year, including New Hampshire. About 465 cases were reported though April 4 compared to the total number of measles cases reported in 2018 at 372. (Houghton, 4/11)

The Washington Post: Measles Outbreak Has Not Spread To D.C. Area So Far, Officials Say
A case of measles confirmed in Maryland last week appears not to have spread into the greater Washington area, officials said Thursday, but government health agencies are preparing and watching for any additional signs of the highly infectious disease. From Jan. 1 to April 4, 465 measles cases were confirmed in 19 U.S. states, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. One of those was a child in Pikes­ville, Md., northwest of Baltimore. (Sullivan, 4/11)

Regarding efforts to contain other worrisome outbreaks -

Kaiser Health News: How To Fight ‘Scary’ Superbugs? Cooperation — And A Special Soap
Hospitals and nursing homes in California and Illinois are testing a surprisingly simple strategy against the dangerous, antibiotic-resistant superbugs that kill thousands of people each year: washing patients with a special soap. The efforts — funded with roughly $8 million from the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — are taking place at 50 facilities in those two states. (Gorman, 4/12)