Confirmed cases soar to new highs! The U.S.’s measles-free status after 26 years has been revoked

The measles epidemic in the United States has been on the rise since this year, with official statistics indicating that there have been more than 5,400 cases in the United States. The Wall Street Journal quoted sources on the 13th that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has revoked the measles elimination status of the United States that it has maintained for 26 years.

In the past two years, measles infections have broken out one after another in the United States, with large-scale outbreaks occurring in Texas, Utah, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. According to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of the 12th, more than 5,400 confirmed cases have been reported this year, the most in the United States since 1991. In November, Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin reported at least five deaths from unrelated measles outbreaks.

By actively promoting vaccination and providing free vaccination to millions of children, the United States became a measles-free country in 2000. Measles has been largely under control over the past 30 years, with only dozens of cases recorded each year. To obtain measles-free status, there must be no sustained transmission of measles for at least 12 months.

Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pan American Health Organization reviewed recent epidemics and reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on whether epidemics in various places are related to each other and whether a single epidemic has lasted for more than a year to determine whether the same strain of the virus has been circulating uninterruptedly in the United States for at least 12 months to distinguish between local transmission or overseas imports.

The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the measles epidemic escalated during the tenure of Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Since taking office, he has sought to reduce the number of vaccinations given to schoolchildren, promoted long-refuted claims that vaccinations cause autism, and cut federal funding for some vaccine research. Noel Brewer, chairman of the independent committee that reports on the U.S. epidemic to the Pan American Health Organization, said the out-of-control measles epidemic in the U.S. and the avoidable deaths are “all because measles vaccination rates are too low.”

According to U.S. CDC data, in the school year ending in June this year, the rate of vaccination of kindergarten children in the United States with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) was 92.4%, down from 95.2% six years ago. Reduced vaccination rates have left some parts of the country vulnerable to outbreaks of this highly contagious disease. To stop the spread of measles, at least 95% of the population needs to be vaccinated, which also helps protect infants and people who cannot be vaccinated.

The Pan American Health Organization has yet to respond to requests for comment. The organization cannot force countries to take measures, but it recommends that countries that have lost their clearance status submit improvement plans to the agency and strengthen vaccination and epidemic monitoring.