Measles cases in California continue to rise, with more cases reported this year so far than in all of 2024, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The 17 cases tracked this year are lower than the increased rates in other states, for example, there are 750 cases in Texas and 81 in New Mexico. But health officials are concerned about the uptick, given that meals had become so rare due to high vaccination rates that it was considered eliminated in the United States for the past two decades.
“With cases rising across the country and globally, unprotected individuals need to consider preventive measures. Immunization provides the best protection,” the Orange County Health Care Agency told the Los Angeles Times.
Last year, 15 cases were reported in California, the Times reported. The virus has largely spread to people who are unvaccinated against the measles or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Child vaccination rates in California remain high relative to many other states; However, EdSource earlier this year reported that 16 counties have fallen below the threshold for herd immunity against meals.
For every 1,000 children who get meals, one or two will die, according to the C.D.C. Two unvaccinated children and one adult have died this year, the first such deaths in the country in a decade.
The outbreak’s full effect on public health may not be apparent for years.
The virus causes “immune amnesia,” making the body unable to defend itself against other illnesses, it has already been exposed to and leaving patients more susceptible to future infections. And very rarely, the virus can cause a degenerative and almost always deadly neurological condition that may appear to decay after the original infection.
Until now, 2019 held the record for the highest number of cases since the virus was eliminated. (Before that, large outbreaks sickened tens of thousands of people in some years.) Most of the 1,274 cases that year were connected to a large outbreak that spread through Orthodox Jewish communities in New York State for nearly 12 months.
