{"id":23036,"date":"2025-02-28T18:06:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23036"},"modified":"2025-02-28T19:33:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:33:16","slug":"measles-outbreaks-what-to-know-about-virus-severity-and-vaccine-effectiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23036","title":{"rendered":"Measles Outbreaks: What to Know About Virus Severity and Vaccine Effectiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Experts answered key questions about the severity of the virus and the effectiveness of the vaccine.<\/p>\n

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Measles cases are surging in West Texas, where an outbreak has led to the first U.S. death from the virus in a decade.<\/p>\n

But in a meeting with President Trump and other cabinet officials this week, the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said the situation was \u201cnot unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have measles outbreaks every year,\u201d he added. Mr. Kennedy has also said in the past<\/a> that immunizations against measles and some other infectious diseases are unnecessary and risky.<\/p>\n

Public health experts said that while it\u2019s true we do have measles cases in the United States every year, the latest outbreak is concerning because of its size, because a child has died and because larger outbreaks like this are becoming more frequent as vaccination rates decline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhile we certainly see measles cases from time to time, it\u2019s a rarity that we see an unfolding outbreak of this scale,\u201d said Jason Schwartz, an associate professor of health policy at the Yale School of Public Health. At least 164 people have been sickened with measles so far this year. That is more than half the number of cases in all of 2024, and higher than the 59 cases documented in 2023.<\/p>\n