Tag: measles deaths

How Many People Have Died from Measles in 2019?

As measles cases climb, some folks are interested in just one thing, how many people have died from measles this year?

A lot of people are dying from measles this year.
A lot of people are dying from measles this year.

The rest of us?

We understand that as we see more and more cases, it simply increases the chances that someone might eventually die.

How Many People Have Died from Measles in 2019?

So far, we have been very lucky that there have been no measles deaths, even as we pass 1,000 cases.

Not that 1,000 cases is some magic number where you start to see deaths.

Consider that we only had 188 cases in 2015, when we had the last measles death in the United States. That year, a woman got caught up in a small outbreak in Washington.

Where Are People Dying of Measles in 2019?

There are also many countries with rather small numbers of cases that are seeing measles deaths.

The last death in France, in April 2019, occurred after only 852 cases were reported.

In Romania, the first death of 2019, in January, came after just 133 cases.

Measles acts quickly. Do your part to protect yourself and others.

And since the outbreaks in Europe started in 2016, there have been deaths in:

  • Bulgaria – only 416 cases
  • Portugal – only 202 cases
  • Spain – only 457 cases
  • Switzerland – two deaths and only 197 cases!

Of course, there are more deaths in countries that are seeing more cases.

Again, since 2016:

CountryDeathsCases
Romania5917,850
Greece43,270
Italy139,277
France44,138
UK12,000
Germany12,000
Israel24,256 (since 2018)
Ukraine1752,034 (2019)
Serbia155,797 (since Oct 2017)
Brazil1219,036 (since 2018)
Tunisia303,141 (2019)
Malaysia62,129 (since 2017)
Thailand235,893 (since 2018)
Guinea141,359 cases (2019)

And a lot more deaths in some countries:

  • Madagascar – at least 1,233 reported deaths among 122,840 registered cases
  • Philippines – at least 389 deaths in 2019, with over 30,000 cases.
  • Venezuela – at least 134 deaths since 2017, with over 9,585 cases
  • Democratic Republic of Congo – at least 1,460 deaths this year, with over 84,000 cases
  • Nigeria – at least 89 deaths this year, with nearly 29,000 cases
  • Chad – at least 191 deaths this year, with over 18,000 cases

Measles is on the rise.

Measles deaths are on the rise too. While the risk of complications of measles can be reduced with vitamin A treatment, that doesn’t eliminate them. And the benefit is mostly in those who are already vitamin A deficient. Vitamin A has a much more modest effect in developed countries, where measles deaths still occur.

What to reduce your child’s risk of dying from measles?

Get them vaccinated and protected.

Tragically, this all comes after we were making progress towards measles elimination, reaching a record low for global cases and deaths just a few years ago.

How will we respond? An even stronger effort to finally get measles under control? Or continued worsening, with more cases and more deaths?

More on How Many People Have Died from Measles in 2019

How Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Respond to New Information?

Ever wonder why most anti-vaccine folks don’t change their mind and get their kids vaccinated and protected when they “do their research” and “get educated” about vaccines?

You would think that they would, considering that anti-vaccine talking points are all based on myths and misinformation.

How Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Respond to New Information?

While some do change their mind, even before they are faced with an outbreak or their child getting sick, the biggest reason that others don’t is that they are stuck in an echo-chamber of like-minded folks.

This discussion is a good example of how this works.

The original poster wasn’t aware that measles was on the rise all over the world and that people are dying.

How do you respond to the fact that people are dying of measles?

So do they understand that reason behind the deaths is because those folks were unvaccinated?

Why didn’t “extreme poverty, poor nutrition, and a lack of sanitation” cause more measles deaths in Ukraine, Philippines, and Brazil before now?

Nope.

It’s always the vaccine with these folks…

It is anything and everything except that they weren’t vaccinated!

According to whom? You can actually go to the national health sites for each of these countries and find the data for yourself, if you were really interested in doing research.

And that they aren’t in America!

That’s not America… yet. Our measles cases are rising though and sooner or later we will start seeing measles deaths.

So what’s wrong with their thinking?

To start, these countries aren’t underdeveloped!

Brazil and the Philippines are newly industrialized countries and while Ukraine is considered a developing country, it is hardly the developing country without sanitation and nutrition that these folks make it out to be.

The problem in all of these countries isn’t a lack of nutrition, clean water, or health care. It is that too many folks are unvaccinated!

That becomes easier to see when you look at where else we are seeing a lot of measles deaths – the rest of Europe.

In the past 12 months, there have been 22 deaths from measles in Romania, Italy, France, and Greece.

Are folks in Italy suffering from malnutrition? Do they not have clean water?

There have been 64 deaths in Romania since there outbreaks started a few years ago.

Although Romania is a developing country, it isn’t a lack of clean water and sanitation that is causing measles deaths. It is that too many people in Romania are unvaccinated!

And too many people are listening to anti-vaccine propaganda.

Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and are obviously necessary.

More on How Anti-Vaccine Folks Respond to New Information

Why Have We Forgotten About the Importance of Vaccination Against Measles?

While most of us know that measles is a serious, life-threatening disease, there are still some folks that want you to think that it is nothing to worry about.

It’s just a rash and fever, right?

The Importance of Vaccination Against Measles

Actually, while most people did recover after having a high fever, irritability, and other symptoms for a week or more, some didn’t. That’s why doctors at the time called it a harmless killer.

In the pre-vaccine era, hospitalizations, tracheotomies, encephalitis, sepsis, death from measles were not rare.
In the pre-vaccine era, hospitalizations, tracheotomies, encephalitis, sepsis, death from measles were not rare.

And why many were looking forward to a vaccine to get measles under control, as measles was a leading killer at the time.

Seymour Musiker calls on pediatricians to take action to get more kids vaccinated against measles.
A call for pediatricians to take action to get kids vaccinated against measles.

While measles vaccination was getting off to a slow start at the time, it should be obvious that there was a big need for these vaccines.

“Thus it is up to each one of us to convince our own segment of the population since this seems to be the only way to do it. And it is up to each one of us to remind our fellow physicians to cover his segment of the population.”

Norman Lewak, MD

Fortunately, everyone did finally take action and while it was a little later than originally planned, we got measles under control.

“Vigorous endorsement and execution of this aim by physicians and responsible health authorities should eliminate measles by 1970, and a suitable motto for the five-year period might well be “Mortus a morbilli.”

Lewis L. Coriell, MD

And the endemic spread of measles was eliminated in the United States in 2000.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that we eliminated or eradicated measles. It simply means that all cases and outbreaks are linked to someone from outside the United States.

Now, as too many people are either scared or have forgotten about the importance of vaccination against measles, cases are rising, continuing to reach new record levels.

So what’s next?

“All we need is one concerted campaign to get every susceptible vaccinated. One death, one brain-damaged child, or even one child who needs hospitalization is one too many.”

Norman Lewak, MD

Let’s get everyone vaccinated and protected.

Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and they are obviously necessary.

Measles is not a mild disease. And it never was.

More on the Importance of Vaccination Against Measles

Alexander Langmuir on Measles

It’s a shame that most people only know of Alexander Langmuir because anti-vaccine folks like to make it sound like he was against vaccines.

How do they do that?

By making up quotes and using some real quotes out of context.

Alexander Langmuir on Measles

Remember the Alexander Langmuir quotes about flu vaccines?

He never really said that “no one should take the flu vaccine.”

And now folks are misrepresenting what he said about measles.

Alexander Langmuir was a big advocate of the measles vaccine.

So what did he really say?

“This self-limiting infection of short duration, moderate severity, and low fatality has maintained a remarkably stable biological balance over the centuries. Those epidemiologists, and there are many, who tend to revere the biological balance have long argued that the ecological equilibrium of measles is solidly based, that it can not readily be disrupted and that therefore we must learn to live with this parasite rather than hope to eradicate it. This speaker, not so long ago, was counted among this group and waxed eloquent on this subject in print.

Happily, this era is ending. New and potent tools that promise effective control of measles are at hand. If properly developed and wisely used, it should be possible to disrupt the biological balance of measles. Its eradication from large continental landmasses such as North America and many other parts of the world can be anticipated soon.”

Alexander Langmuir et al on The Importance of Measles as a Health Problem

Alexander Langmuir didn’t think that measles was a benign disease.

“…any parent who has seen his small child suffer even for a few days with persistent fever of 105, with hacking cough and delirium wants to see this prevented…”

Alexander Langmuir

And he thought that we should work to eradicate it.

“The availability of potent and effective measles vaccines, which have been tested extensively of the past 4 years, provides the basis for the eradication of measles in any community that will raise its immune thresholds to readily attainable levels.”


Alexander Langmuir et al on Epidemiologic Basis For Eradication Of Measles In 1967

Alexender Langmuir, who was Chief Epidemiologist at CDC for 21 years and founded the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), said that “all infants should receive measles vaccine at approximately 1 year of age.”

What else did he say?

“When measles has become so widespread that epidemics are already present in several schools and in different communities within a city or county, more extensive communitywide measures must be undertaken. Then the full resources of the health and medical services of the total community, backed by well-coordinated voluntary agencies, will need to be mobilized. Again, priority should be directed first to the immunization of susceptible children in schools or who congregate in other enclosed spaces. If such immunization programs are carried out promptly and effectively, an epidemic of measles can be contained within 2 to 3 weeks.”

Alexander Langmuir

It would be nice to get back to where we could contain outbreaks in 2 to 3 weeks.

It would be nice if folks really listened to what Alexander Langmuir had to say and vaccinated their kids.

More on Alexander Langmuir on Measles