Measles: A Rash of Cases Despite an Effective Vaccine

Post Date: December 3, 2019 | Publish Date:

Be it thousands of cases in Europe or a deadly outbreak in Samoa that has left 53 dead while forcing government offices to shut down, the measles keeps making headlines.

Until recently, measles had been so rare in the United States that many pediatricians had not seen a single case among their patients in years. In fact, the disease was declared eliminated in the United States in the year 2000.

Times have changed. This year, more than 1,200 measles cases across 31 states have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the largest number reported in the U.S. since 1992.

Now, pediatric offices are reviewing their plans for moving suspected cases away from other visitors and hospital care teams are being reminded to make sure their N95 masks are properly fitted.

While a spring outbreak centered in New York appears to have subsided, infectious disease experts warn that the next outbreak may be just a plane flight away.

This Pediatric Grand Rounds presentation features Rebecca Brady, MD, and Paul Spearman, MD, who serves as Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s and President of the national Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.