As Measles Cases Crack 1,000, a Look at What to Do

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Published: Jun. 11, 2019

In this May 17, 2019 a sign stands advertising school vaccines and physical exams sits in front of the Knox County Health Department in Mount Vernon, Ohio. States are debating whether to make it more difficult for students to avoid vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons amid the worst measles outbreak in decades, but children using such waivers are outnumbered in many states by those who give no excuse for lacking shots.

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but by early June, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,022 cases in 28 states, the most since 1992.

The disease is occurring in clusters of unvaccinated people who, for religious, personal, or medical reasons, have refused to be vaccinated or to have their children vaccinated.

Though global measles deaths are down significantly from more than half a million in 2000, the disease still killed 110,00 in 2017, according to the World Health Organization....

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Powell, Alvin, "As Measles Cases Crack 1,000, a Look at What to Do." Harvard Gazette, June 11, 2019.