By Sophie Foster
Opinion Editor
Measles is back in the United States, and we have nationwide surges in vaccine hesitancy to thank.
So far, the U.S. has seen at least 41 cases of measles across 16 states as of Friday, March 1, an increase from the 35 cases across 15 states recorded the week prior — one of the steepest increases in the virus at this time of year seen in recent history, according to CBS. This increase warns of a repeat of the surge seen in 2019 and threatens the virus elimination status the country presently boasts.
Measles is an entirely preventable disease as a result of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine that young children are encouraged, and typically required, to receive by schools. However, according to CBS, the decline of vaccination coverage in many areas of the U.S. enabled this climb in confirmed cases, particularly among elementary school children.
No state has reported more cases this year than Florida, headed by vaccine-skeptical Governor Ron DeSantis.
Currently, according to CBS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers genotype sequencing and investigative support in the state, endeavoring to locate links between cases and minimize impact.
According to CBS, “cases globally have been rising, with an increase in what the World Health Organization deems large or disruptive outbreaks in countries across the Eastern Mediterranean, Europe and Asia. The CDC has said this increased the share of unvaccinated travelers exposed to the virus and bringing it back to the U.S.”
This is not the first time the U.S. faced this issue in recent years, corresponding directly with widespread anti-vaccination rhetoric. The repeated return of measles should signal dire circumstances to the American public — but when the disinformation is coming directly from the mouths of those with legislative or public power, it is particularly challenging to push back.
According to USA Today, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo “contradicted medical guidance by telling parents they could decide whether or not to send their kids back to the schools with confirmed cases.” This follows a series of questionable directives from Ladapo, who once called for a halt to COVID-19 mRNA vaccination.
The Florida government, more than any other state’s, has stood its ground on anti-vaccination policies under Gov. DeSantis, and its schools are now facing the consequences. More and more children arrive at elementary school without having received critically protective vaccines like the MMR vaccine. Without it, herd immunity steadily loses its definition, and these outbreaks become increasingly likely, common, and perilous.
Continuing to use Florida as a representative sample of a nationwide dilemma, the percentage of the state’s kindergarteners who submitted the required vaccination form certifying that they have received protections against diseases like measles fell from 94.1% to 91.7% in public schools over the course of five years. In the Florida Virtual School, the rate only hit 83.8%, according to a Florida Department of Health report.
For context, the coverage goal is at least 95% to ensure population immunity from measles, according to USA Today. Nationally, the vaccination rate has dropped, on average, two percentage points since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. More parents than ever claim non-medical, religious exemptions to vaccines, putting both their children and others at an increasingly high risk of dangerous infection.
According to Scientific American, most of the cases in Florida at present are linked to a school with almost three dozen unvaccinated students. Ladapo, meanwhile, is informing parents that unvaccinated children exposed to measles should continue to attend school, and refuses to recommend vaccination.
“This is unprecedented and dangerous,” according to Scientific American. “Children without the prior immune exposure that vaccines provide need to be isolated for 21 days after exposure to avoid contracting and further spreading this illness…[and] unvaccinated kids can still get protection against measles if they get vaccinated within 72 hours of exposure.”
It is crucial to contextualize the gravity of measles, particularly amongst children, whom the illness predominantly impacts. According to Scientific American, one in five infected without immunity will be hospitalized. One in 20 will develop pneumonia. One in 1,000 will experience inflammation of the brain. One to three in 1,000 will die.
Measles can cause “immune amnesia,” which diminishes the immune system’s ability to fight viruses to which a body was previously immune. Most importantly, it is also highly contagious. Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to it will be infected, according to Scientific American. It is one of the most contagious known viruses on earth.
The reality is that the enduring tendency among the ill-informed, ring-wing, or propaganda-obsessed to turn toward individualism presents a danger to us all. Public health is a group effort, and without shared transparency and trust, all Americans are at risk of health decline.
If we reject community care in the name of misinformed, self-centered interest, the result cannot be anything but catastrophic.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo Caption: Ron DeSantis’ vaccine leniency has heavily impacted the political sphere of Florida.