Measles outbreak breaks out among unvaccinated children at Ohio day care center

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Measles outbreak breaks out among unvaccinated children at Ohio day care center

Enlarge / This child, who had been diagnosed with measles, presented the characteristic rash on the fourth day of development. Measles can cause hearing loss and brain damage and can be fatal in young children.

Amid falling vaccination rates across the country, a measles outbreak broke out among unvaccinated children at a child care facility in Columbus, Ohio this week.

The outbreak has sickened at least four children so far, all of whom are unvaccinated and have no travel history, meaning they contracted the highly contagious virus locally, according to Columbus-area health officials. An investigation into the outbreak is ongoing. Health authorities are notifying parents and tracing contacts. The day-care center is cooperating and is temporarily closed.

Columbus CBS affiliate WBNS-TV reported that one of the four cases had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Officials also told the outlet they expect more cases to be identified in the coming days.

A Columbus Public Health representative, reached by email Thursday, told Ars that all four cases are now recovering at home.

The representative had no current or past information on vaccination rates in the area as they are not reported to the city health department. Ars contacted the state health department for that information, but a spokesman said the information wasn’t readily available. We’ll update this post if they come through.

Worrying Trends

But previously released data on statewide and nationwide vaccination rates shows significant declines amid the pandemic. Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an analysis that found that between the 2019-2020 school year and 2020-2021 school year, immunization coverage among kindergarten children fell by a percentage point, falling from about 95 percent to 94 percent is.

In Ohio, the decline was more pronounced statewide. In the 2019/2020 school year, 92.4 percent of kindergarten children were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). But in the 2020-2021 school year, coverage dropped to 89.6 percent.

Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts, told WBNS she has noticed a trend among local parents refusing to vaccinate their children. “The number one thing you can do to protect yourself from measles is get vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is safe and highly effective,” Roberts said.

The outbreak, while still small and localized, is stoking public health officials’ concerns about anti-vaccination sentiment in the country. While anti-vaccination campaigners had been creeping around for years before the pandemic, they shot into the mainstream amid a spate of misinformation and post-COVID-19 public health politicization. As Republican lawmakers cracked down on COVID-19 vaccination regulations and other public health measures aimed at reducing transmission and preventing death and disease, efforts shifted to routine immunizations.

In Ohio, for example, Republican lawmakers introduced a sweeping anti-vaccination law last year that would essentially override all state immunization requirements and allow people to opt-out of vaccines simply by stating “reasons of conscience.” The bill, which was backed by testimony from a doctor who falsely claimed COVID-19 shots cause people to become magnetic, has since stalled in committee. Still, this year at least 25 states have considered dozens of bills to roll back childhood immunization requirements.

avoidable

Right now, national and most state levels have fair immunization coverage, often below the 95 percent target, but still generally high. However, as the ongoing polio outbreak in New York has shown, decent overall immunization rates can hide areas with dramatically undervaccinated communities. For example, one area of ​​a polio-affected county in New York has a polio immunization rate for children under 24 months of age of just 37 percent. The same county, Rockland, also had an explosive measles outbreak in 2019.

The vaccine nests could further fuel the spread of dangerous, vaccine-preventable diseases and undermine the success of mass vaccination campaigns, one of modern public health’s greatest triumphs. The spread of polio and measles is of particular concern – they are both highly contagious and dangerous.

Measles can be spread by coughing, talking, or just being in the same room as someone with the virus. Ninety percent of unvaccinated people who are exposed become ill, and 1 in 5 require hospitalization, the Ohio State Health Department in Franklin County (Franklin County includes Columbus) found in a news release.

“Measles is both highly contagious and preventable,” Franklin County Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola said in the release. “It can be a serious disease, so we strongly encourage anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated to get vaccinated to prevent further spread.”

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