There is a large measles outbreak worldwide. On Wednesday, one of the American states declared a state of emergency, Ukraine has a record number of cases over the past 10 years, cases of infection have been registered since the beginning of the year in Russia, including in the Moscow maternity hospital and at the Higher School of Economics. Why is this happening and how is the spread of measles being fought in different countries?
US state of emergency
New York state has declared a state of emergency in response to the measles outbreak. Since October, Rockland County has reported 153 measles cases in a population of 300,000.
The authorities imposed a fine of $ 500 and a prison sentence of up to six months for the appearance of an unvaccinated person in public. For the next 30 days, minors who have not been vaccinated are prohibited from appearing unaccompanied in schools, shopping centers, restaurants and places of worship. This decision was taken in the wake of outbreaks of diseases in the states of Washington, California, Texas and Illinois.
In recent years, the number of vaccinated people in the United States has been steadily decreasing. Parents refuse vaccinations for philosophical or religious reasons, or because they have a false belief that vaccines cause serious complications.
Many of the patients in Rockland, according to The New York Times, belong to ultra-Orthodox communities, in which more than 6 thousand children are not vaccinated. Over the past six months, more than 17 thousand vaccinations have been carried out, but this did not help stop the spread of the infection.
Rockland's unvaccinated children are not allowed to appear in public unaccompanied by an adult.
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The head of Rockland Ed Day called it a "health crisis." He said that American doctors are meeting resistance from local residents, calling him "unacceptable and irresponsible."
“When [the health workers] came to the homes of those infected, they were told, 'We won't discuss this, don't come again,'” Day said.
Dylan Skryloff, editor of the local newspaper Rockland County Times, told the BBC that the first cases were reported six months ago, and since then the number of cases among the local population has been growing steadily, despite attempts by the authorities to urge religious communities to immunize.
"Among the younger generation in religious communities, about 50-60% are vaccinated, but this is not enough," Skryloff says.
Measles outbreak in Europe
The number of measles cases in Europe in 2018 reached a record in the last 10 years. According to the World Health Organization, 72 people died from measles in Europe in 2018, more than 82 thousand people became infected. Cases have been reported in 47 of 53 European countries. In most cases, the sick had to be hospitalized.
The most serious situation is observed in Ukraine, where in 2018 more than 53 thousand cases of measles were noted - this is more than in all other European countries combined. In the first two months of 2019, more than 20 thousand people fell ill, nine people died. More than half of the sick are children.
Europe has the worst measles outbreak in 10 years.
The strongest outbreaks were recorded in Lviv, Vinnytsia, Rivne and Khmelnytsky regions, as well as in Kiev. In the Lviv region, where most of the unvaccinated children are, immunization teams have been working since February. Since February 1, in Lviv schools, doctors have vaccinated more than 18 thousand children aged six to 18 years. Vaccinations are given only with parental consent.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine notes that in order to improve the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country, it is necessary that at least 90% of the population be vaccinated.
How are things in Russia?
In Russia, the number of measles cases varies from year to year, with the most serious outbreaks observed in 2012-2014 and 2018. Over the past year, 2,538 people fell ill - almost 20 times more than in 2010.
Since the beginning of 2019, cases of measles have been registered in Moscow, Dagestan and the Vladimir region. One of the last cases was recorded in the maternity ward number 1 of the Moscow City Clinical Hospital named after A. K. Eramishantseva. According to the hospital, the woman in labor hid from doctors the fact that her eldest son had measles, thereby endangering at least 100 patients and 40 newborns. The department was temporarily closed for anti-epidemic work, hospital staff are in quarantine.
Measles is on the national immunization schedule, but newborns cannot be vaccinated.
In February, a case of a student at the Higher School of Economics was also registered in Moscow, after which more than 500 employees and students were urgently vaccinated.
In connection with the increased incidence of diseases, Rospotrebnadzor has strengthened sanitary control at the border and made a decree on additional immunization of the population. The chief sanitary doctor of St. Petersburg Natalia Bashketova made an order not to admit children who were not vaccinated against measles and did not survive the disease into kindergartens and schools. Bashketova also proposed to introduce disciplinary measures against doctors who mistakenly diagnosed ARVI instead of measles.
Why do disease outbreaks occur?
Measles is considered a highly contagious viral disease - more contagious than Ebola, tuberculosis, or the flu. The virus spreads rapidly through airborne droplets, the disease is often complicated and can lead to pneumonia, ear infections and brain inflammation.
Since there is no cure for measles, vaccinations are the only reliable protection. Before the introduction of mass vaccination, more than 2.6 million people died from measles worldwide each year. Now the average annual figures, according to WHO, are about 90 thousand people, but in recent years they have been growing steadily.
The World Health Organization has named vaccine refusal as one of the top public health threats in 2019.