What Parents Should Know about Measles, By the Numbers
2011 has been the most severe year for measles outbreaks since 1996. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), of reported incidences from 2001 to 2008, the median number of cases by year was 56. Since the beginning of this year, there have been 118 cases of measles across 23 states. Measles is a highly contagious virus that can result in serious complicated health postures and even be fatal.
"These outbreaks are due in significant part to children not getting vaccinated," said Seth Mnookin, author of "The Panic Virus," a book related to childhood disease and illness, according to CBS/AP. "Some parents think the measles vaccine can cause autism, and some just have a general unease about vaccines."
The majority of the cases, about 90 percent, have been imported from outside the continental United States.
1963: The year the measles vaccine first became available.
1971: The inoculations for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) were combined into one deliverable vaccine.
12-15 months: The recommended time frame for newborns to receive the first dose of the MMR.
95-98 percent: The percentage of immunity that the first dose of MMR will grant to children when delivered.
4-6 years old: The age that a child should receive the second dose of the MMR vaccine. This second dose is a precautionary step to "catch" any person in which the first dose did not grant immunity.
28 days: The minimal time frame that can take place between the first and second doses of both MMR vaccines. Two to three years between doses is not necessary and, due to elongated periods in between doses, many parents fail to return with their children for a second dose.
1957: Any adult born prior to this year is assumed to have had, and built a natural anti-virus to, measles, according to the Immunization Action Coalition.
1989: The year that the CDC, American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics changed the recommendation from one to two doses of MMR.
105: The amount of cases that were the result of importation of the ailment from outside the United States in 2011.
5-15 percent: Children who will have minor reactions to the MMR vaccine, such as elevated fever.
3/10,000: The amount of children who have a moderate reaction to the MMR vaccine. These reactions range from high fever to seizure.
1/10,000: Children who have a severe reaction to the MMR vaccine such as lowered consciousness, coma, swelling inside the mouth, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure and shock.
1/1,000,000: The extremely rare case where children have developed encephalitis as a result of the vaccine. This usually takes place within 6-15 days of receiving the vaccine.
1998: The year that a gastroenterologist named Andrew Wakefield suggested that the MMR vaccine could cause autism in children by causing inflammatory bowel disease, which allows harmful proteins to enter the blood stream. This claim has been fought against long and hard, most notably by Paul A. Offit, M.D., Director of the Vaccine Education Center Children's Hospital in Philadelphia.
20: The number of cases that were imported from Europe and southeast Asia during the 2011 increase in reported cases of measles in the United States.
11: The number of European cases that originated in France.
14: The number of southeast Asian cases that originated in India during the 2011 increase.
105: The number of reported measles cases that were not vaccinated for measles of the 118 reported in the early months of 2011.
24: The number of unvaccinated cases whose parents claimed some sort of religious or cultural exemption from the vaccination.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8101921/what_parents_should_know_about_measles.html?cat=5
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