Why measles outbursts can be the new normality

While the Trump administration is to eliminate the reduction of international protective measures for public health, the financing of the local health departments and the legitimization of misinformations of health, some experts now fear that the country places the prerequisites for a long-term resolution of the measles.

If federal health officers do not change the course, large outbursts with multi -stage outbursts in West texas that jump into neighboring countries can become the norm.

“We really opened the door so that this virus comes back” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, former director of the centers for the control and prevention of diseases.

In order for an outbreak in the United States, the virus must first be imported into the country and has to reach a large, non -vaccinated population.

The recent events have increasingly likely to appear, said Dr. William Moss, epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The efforts to control the spread of measles internationally were disturbed by the recent decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the World Health Organization, which operates a network of more than 700 laboratories, the measles cases in 164 countries.

The program – which contributes to the fact that the representative reactions of public health are ensured on emerging outbursts, is based on the United States to finance its entire annual budget of $ 8 million.

The funds for Gavi were not included in a list that the Foreign Ministry sent to the congress with programs last week, which they should continue to support. However, the organization has not yet received a formal letter of termination, and its leadership is committed to the administration to receive the financing.

Both the WHO retreat and the possible loss of financing Gavi will probably lead to an increase in measles cases in overseas, which increases the likelihood that a US traveler will bring the virus back into the country, said Dr. Walter Orenstein, an emeritus professor at Emory University and the former director of the national immunization program on the CDC

“People do not understand that the support of global immunization is not only good for their countries, but also for our country” he said.

The layoffs of this week at the CDC were employees who, during the outbreaks of infectious diseases, communicated with the public and made campaigns to promote vaccination.

Now communication in the Ministry of Health and Human Services under the control of the Minister of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, is being centralized. The department did not respond to inquiries about comments.

Dr. Frieden, the former CDC director, described the cuts as “a recipe for disasters”.

The national immunization rate for measles that have fallen during the Covid 19 pandemic did not recover to the 95 percent that are necessary to curb the spread of the virus in a community. This increases the likelihood that an imported case ends up in a vulnerable population and ignites.

About 93 percent of children in kindergarten had the MMR school year 2023-24. However, vaccination rates are distributed unevenly; Some municipalities have rates of around 80 percent, which are compensated for by others, in which the number is 99 percent closer.

Now that HHS has cut billions of dollars into the local health departments, they may have difficulty lifting outbreaks at an early stage so that the virus can rise to other non -vaccinated communities. (A judge temporarily blocked the funding cuts after a coalition of states had sued the Trump administration.)

In the event of emergencies in infectious diseases, the local health departments examine the source of the pathogen and find everyone that may have been exposed so that they can be put under quarantine.

The follow -up process is time -consuming and resource -intensive, especially for a virus that is as contagious as measles.

“A fire burns and we close all fire brigades at the same time” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health.

The current outbreak that started in West texas shows no signs of slowing down. Since the end of January there have been more than 480 cases in the region and 56 hospital stays. The outbreak has also spread to the border states that revoke 54 people in New Mexico and 10 in Oklahoma.

The genetic sequencing has proposed that the outbreak is also associated with 24 measles cases that were discovered in Southwestern Kansas.

Measles was officially eliminated in the United States in 2000. The speed with which the outbreak in Texas has grown, and the fact that it has already gone to other, non -vaccinated communities makes it very likely that the United States will lose this status, said Dr. Nuzzo.

Measles are no longer considered eliminated when an infection chain continues for more than twelve months. Public healthcare officers in West Texas have predicted that the outbreak will take a year.

A great measles outbreak, which spread to parts of the state of New York for almost 12 months, almost cost its excretion status in 2019. The outbreak was largely contained due to aggressive vaccination mandates, which contributed to significantly increasing the immunization rates in childhood in the community.

“We just missed it through hair,” said Dr. Nuzzo. “Where we are now is worse than that. “”

Mr. Kennedy offered muffled support for vaccination and emphasized undestected treatments for measles such as cod liver oil. According to doctors in Texas, his confirmation of alternative treatments has contributed to the fact that patients delayed intensive care and toxic mirrors from vitamin A.

Mr. Kennedy recently handled an outstanding figure in the anti-accacine movement on a study in which long-term theory is examined that vaccines are connected to autism.

When the country loses the elimination status, Dr. Moss, it is unlikely that the infection rates will resemble those of the time before the activity when measles infected almost every child at the age of 15.

However, it would probably be more frequent and larger outbreaks that are risky for the most endangered society of society: babies too young to be vaccinated, and immunocompromised people.

“There are direct follow-up fees that have long-term health effects, ”said Dr. Nuzzo.“ MaSern outbreaks are only incredibly expensive and annoying. “”

“It is also just one embarrassment.