Measles cases are on the rise. Where? Pretty much everywhere. But some folks are still pushing the myth that measles never left.
It is easy to see that measles myth, like most AV myths, isn’t true.
The Myth That Measles Never Left
In the pre-vaccine era, everyone would get measles.
That translates into about 500,000 reported cases each year. Technically, it was likely closer to about 4 million cases in the United States each year, but either way, we know that lots of people got measles.
Then we got a measles vaccine and not surprisingly, cases of measles dropped. Except for a small uptick from 1989 to 1991, we were on our way to eliminating measles.
And we did, in 2000, when the endemic spread of measles was eliminated in the United States. From then on, all measles cases were imported.
In 2004, we had an historic low of just 37 measles cases in the United States!
And from 2000 to 2012, we averaged just 87 measles cases each year, which is far below the US average of 283 cases we are now seeing.
No, measles never completely left. It was not eradicated.
But it is certainly making a comeback and soaring to levels that we haven’t seen since 1992!
Just think about it… We had 37 cases of measles in 2004 and this year, we often had 37 cases in a single week!
Get vaccinated and protected so that you don’t get caught up in the next outbreak.
More on Measles Cases
- How Many People Get Measles Each Year?
- What to Do If Your Child Is Exposed to Measles
- How Do You Know If You Have Measles Immunity?
- Do You Need Another Dose of the MMR Vaccine?
- Where Is Measles on the Rise?
- More About Measles Deaths in the United States
- The Myth That Measles Isn’t Deadly
- Costs of a Measles Outbreak
- How Contagious Is Measles?
- Can MMR Shedding Start a Measles Outbreak?
- CDC – Measles Cases and Outbreaks
- Measles – Timeline | History of Vaccine
- Ask the Experts about MMR