Imported Measles Raises Californian Conerns

The number of measles cases in California state alone has climbed to 32 just this year, fast approaching the state's highest recorded number of infections in over a decade.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the highest number of cases of measles California has seen since the year 2000 -- when measles was first declared eradicated in the U.S. by the CDC -- was approximately 40 infections in 12 months.  Due to high measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) immunization rates in the U.S., these cases of infection are largely isolated regardless of alarming numbers of exposures. According to the CDC, measles can be highly contagious, infecting 90 percent of those exposed who are not immune. But for those who have been vaccinated, the risk of infection is nearly non-existent. According to state health officials, the majority of California citizens infected with measles received the disease from outside of the U.S.

However, the CDPH has reported that Califonia is dangerously close to setting a new all-time high since 2000, and suggests that the measles infection rate in California has changed in alarming ways.

According to a recent CDPH release, in just three months, the state has repeated last year's measles infection numbers eight times over. Until now, the number of cases the state saw each year had been gradually declining, with last year only seeing four cases.

Now, this spike in measles cases changes all that. CDPH officials say that this change is in-part due to the fact that there is a massive measles outbreak going on in the Philippines right now while Vietnam is facing what the World Health Organization is calling an epidemic. In fact, of the cases this year,  a fourth of the Californians who have contracted the virus have confirmed having traveled to either of those countries weeks before symptoms appeared.

Still, this is only a small explanation for what's going on in California. New York and even Canada has also seen an increased number of measles cases recently with outbreaks of the virus spreading among the unvaccinated. Californian health officials are echoing CDC statements, urging those who plan to internationally and have not been vaccinated to do so immediately to help prevent the further outbreaks from occurring.

The CDPH release was published on March 14.