More and more people in the US are getting measles, and the disease is spreading between states and school systems.
The virus has been found in 17 states in the US, and health officials are working hard to stop it from spreading even faster. Because of this, health officials are telling Americans to double-check their shots and make sure they are up-to-date, including the Measles vaccine.
The head of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, said, “This is why it’s urgent for us to sort of address vaccination so that we can really slow down the march of measles, given the global situation as well as what we’re seeing with some vaccination rates in the country.”
Researchers are still looking into the virus’s demographic trends, but since the number of cases keeps going up, they don’t have enough information yet to draw any conclusions. Daskalakis, on the other hand, said that most of the cases are caused by Americans who travel without getting vaccinations and then bring the virus back with them.
“Measles is easy to avoid because there is a safe vaccine that is easy to get.” “Because of this, we have the technology and the skills to stop measles, even though there are more cases in the U.S.,” Daskalakis added.
In a statement, the CDC said that Americans who aren’t sure about their vaccines should see a doctor at least six weeks before their trip to make sure they’re up to date.
As of now, there have been cases in many states across the United States. The most have been in Illinois, especially in Chicago. Twelve people have been sick in the last few weeks, and ten of those were at one migrant center. People who work in health care praised Chicago for calling in the CDC to help them deal with the cases they were seeing.
Measles is very common, which makes it easy to spread. The best way to make sure you don’t get the virus from someone else is to get your shots on time.