Measles Vaccine And Other Vaccinable Diseases - 2321 Words

Measles Vaccine and Other Vaccinable Diseases Measles Virus The measles virus has been around for a long time. It is also one of the diseases that was successfully eliminated from the United States in the year 2000 through mass immunization programs that effectively rendered the virus with no hosts to populate (CDC, n.d.). Even though it is considered eliminated there are some small cases of it throughout the year mostly small and localized issues. An outbreak is only classified when more individuals get the disease than anticipated. The most recent outbreak occurred at an amusement park in California in 2015 with CDC experts speculating that the disease came from a sick unvaccinated traveler. The source these diseases often originate outside of the United States as the measles disease is still present throughout the world. Prior to the measles vaccination in 1963, there were over half a million cases of measles reported annually and around 500 deaths would be reported as a result of these cases. Public health officials often speculate around 3-4 million American got the disease and around fifty thousand of them are hospitalized as a result of the measles disease and other diseases that took advantage of the lowered immunity. Something to consider, the measles virus is one of the most infectious diseases known to exist. It has been reported that 9/10 susceptible persons who come in close contact with a patient infected with the measles virus have will contract the disease