With more than 1000 confirmed measles cases now encompassing 30 states (including Vermont and Rhode Island) from coast-to-coast and north-to-south, senior citizens who are unsure of either their vaccination or immunity status should consider getting a measles vaccine shot.
Measles is a highly-contagious disease that principally affects children. Of the 1001 cases that have been reported in the past few months, 299 (about 30%) were children under the age of five and 378 (about 38%) were between 5-19 years old. Three deaths have been reported, two school-age children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico.
A high percentage of those who have been infected during the recent outbreaks have required hospitalization, with 23% of children under five being admitted and nine percent of those between the ages of 5-19.
We would note that 96% of those who caught measles were unvaccinated.
Measles officially had been declared eradicated in the United States in 2003, but thanks to a combination of certain religious groups who don’t believe in vaccines and a false narrative about the dangers of vaccines — specifically that they cause autism in children — which has been pushed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and adopted by the MAHA Mom movement, measles has re-awakened, like some science fiction monster, and now poses a growing threat to the health of everybody in this country.
As indicated by the statistic above, the greatest risk is to young children. However, senior citizens, whose immune systems are not great to begin with, also are at risk for catching the disease and suffering adverse effects.
Measles is about the most contagious disease there is. A person can catch it just by breathing the same air as an infected person. Complications, which are most common in children under 5 years and adults over age 30, include blindness, encephalitis (an infection causing brain swelling and potentially brain damage), severe diarrhoea and related dehydration, ear infections, and severe breathing problems including pneumonia.
If a woman catches measles during pregnancy, this can be dangerous for the mother and can result in her baby being born prematurely with a low birth weight.
It is nothing short of despicable that misinformation is being spread by our public health officials in Washington which has led to needless and tragic consequences for many families.
It is apparent that we no longer can count on our fellow Americans to use common sense to do the right thing nor on our public officials to provide honest and accurate information.
But sadly, that’s the world we are living in today.