Is anyone surprised that there is a big measles outbreak in Pennsylvania?
A big measles outbreak that is quickly growing out of control.
A big measles outbreak that is spreading across nearly the whole state in just a few months!
Measles in Pennsylvania
Again, you probably aren’t that surprised though, are you?
“In another case, the parent was stunned by how awful it was. I asked them what they knew about measles before their child was sick, and they said the only person who’d ever taught them anything about measles was their grandmother who had taken care of her kids with measles ages ago. That’s something I’ve heard from other parents. It’s such an awful illness. Even the best possible course is going to be one of the worst diseases most children ever go through.”
Doctors on the front lines of a measles comeback speak out
After all, MMR vaccination rates in Pennsylvania have been dropping recently, so that MMR coverage in kindergarteners is now below 93%.
Still, most of the cases, so far, haven’t been in kindergarteners…
Most of the cases are in teens and younger adults - which very much goes against the RFK, Jr narrative of a Fauci outbreak, right?
What else?
These are folks who didn’t get measles the last time we had big outbreaks, which peaked in the early 1990s.
We will likely see few cases in older adults, because they had measles back then and are immune.
Those older folks earned their immunity after getting caught up in previous outbreaks, including:
the 486 measles cases and six deaths among two Philadelphia church groups that do not allow vaccination
the few thousand cases from 1989 to 1991, with at least three additional deaths
What about the Amish?
Interestingly, they had been hit with a measles outbreak in 1988.
“The measles outbreak in Pennsylvania began on 5 December 1987 when two public-school students from Neshannock school district in Lawrence County developed rashes. The source of these infections is unknown. By the end of May, measles had spread to 27 public school districts in four counties. On 21 March 1988, the first cases of measles were reported among Amish students in Mercer County. One generation later, measles cases were reported from Indiana and Mifflin Counties. By 30 July 1988, measles cases were reported among the Amish from 13 counties (figure 1).”
Measles among the Amish: a comparative study of measles severity in primary and secondary cases in households
An outbreak that led to two deaths.
“Although no deaths occurred among the measles cases in our study, two were reported in Amish in 1988 (Centers for Disease Control: unpublished data).”
Measles among the Amish: a comparative study of measles severity in primary and secondary cases in households
Not surprisingly, measles wasn’t the only problem back then…
At least 94 Amish women with rubella and 17 babies with congenital rubella syndrome, born with congenital heart disease, deafness, encephalitis, microcephaly, seizures, and other conditions.
Lessons Learned from the Pennsylvania Measles Outbreaks
The previous outbreaks in Pennsylvania did have some strong lessons for everyone though.
Of course, the most important lesson was that vaccines are necessary!
A lesson that was too quickly forgotten.
Stop the outbreaks.
More on Measles Outbreaks
Is It True That the Mennonites Haven’t Vaccinated Since 1796?
Why Secretary RFK, Jr Is Responsible for Our Record Setting Measles Outbreaks
In Lancaster, measles cases are rising as providers try to combat low vaccination rates
Inside Pa.’s measles outbreak: A family rides out the virus, doctors treat severely ill children
With 89 new cases in a week, Pa. reports the nation’s third-largest measles outbreak
More than 200 Philly-area schools vulnerable to measles outbreak
High incidence of congenital rubella syndrome after a rubella outbreak
At the bottom it should say: "You don't live in the 1700s, get vaccinated" since Amish are very old-timey.