The number of reported cases of measles in the United States in a week exceeded 90 for the first time since the record wave in 2019. figure It was published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
91 cases of measles were reported with rashes that began the week of March 23, and Arkansas, Hawaii and Indiana have joined the list of two states where measles cases have been confirmed.
81 cases were reported in the week of March 30th, and another 21 were reported the following week. However, these figures are expected to rise as more cases are confirmed.
So far, at least 712 confirmed cases of measles have been found in the United States. This is the second highest case reported in a year since the 1990s. Approximately 30,000 measles cases were reported in 1990, mainly due to vaccination gaps.
In 2019, there were 1,274 confirmed measles cases.
The CDC said there were seven local virus outbreaks in the US on Friday, up from six last week. The outbreak in Texas and neighboring New Mexico remains the largest in the country with nearly 600 cases between the two states.
A CDC spokesman asked about the new outbreak that he did not respond immediately to requests for comment. Agent I said it before Outbreaks have been reported in Texas and in New Mexico, New Jersey, Georgia, Ohio and Kansas.
This week’s update, the day after Health and Welfare Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., explained the strategies to treat the current outbreak as a success.
“Our numbers in this country are now high, and I would like to thank the CDC,” Kennedy told the White House cabinet meeting Thursday.
Kennedy compared the country’s measles figures to European noise. Health officials have been tackling record cases of measles in recent years due to a sudden gap in vaccination rates in several countries.
Unlike in Europe, the long-term local outbreak of measles was declared excluded in the United States. Official I’ve warned The outbreak in this region this year is currently threatening public health outcomes.
Kennedy also told President Trump at a cabinet meeting: “We are trying to focus on the press. We have had three measles deaths in the country over 20 years, and we are trying to focus on the press and make sure we are paying attention to the chronic disease epidemic.”
CDC officials who were not allowed to speak publicly warned that the apparent slowdown in recent measles cases should be treated with caution. The challenges of identifying and reporting cases quickly from an occurrence can distort numbers.
During outbreaks, weekly measles cases appear to be almost always low in recent weeks to report delays, they said.
Some travelers to Texas and Kansas have been advised to get a second or early dose of the measles vaccine, the CDC said. Letter to the Health Department It was marked for the first time this week in the year that the CDC published recommendations for this type of vaccination for domestic travel.
“The current increase in the US measles incident is due to people returning to the US from international travel between communities with low vaccination in Texas and other states,” the CDC wrote in the letter.
