Latest news with #CatherineTroisi
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
A massive US measles outbreak has slowed but the start of the school year brings renewed risk of spread
Texas hasn't reported a new outbreak-related measles case in nearly a month — a hopeful sign that one of the largest outbreaks the United States has seen in decades is starting to slow. But the measles threat hasn't faded as new outbreaks and growing case counts in other states add to the national tally. There have been more measles cases reported in the US in the past month – at least 89 confirmed cases since the start of July – than in most years since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter century ago, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this year's total – 1,356 confirmed cases since January – is higher than it's been in more than 30 years. There have been 32 outbreaks this year, accounting for nearly 90% of all cases since January. Only 10 states remain at zero cases reported this year. The start of the school year in the US poses new threats for the spread of measles amid a record-breaking year for cases and lagging vaccination rates. Experts say that declining childhood vaccination rates across the US coupled with ongoing spread of measles in the US – and large outbreaks in neighboring Canada and Mexico – have raised concerns as children start to gather for the new school year. 'Nobody has a crystal ball, but the conditions are there to see an increased number of cases,' said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth Houston. On Saturday, Wisconsin reported nine new cases – all linked to the same exposure during travel to another US state. The state health department isn't releasing more details about the cases – including the vaccination status of the individuals or the specific state they traveled to – in order to 'balance individual privacy for what the public needs to know' and because the risk of community spread is considered to be low, Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Bureau of Communicable Diseases, said at a news briefing on Monday. But new data published by the CDC last week shows that kindergartners in Wisconsin had one of the lowest rates of coverage with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Only 84.8% of kindergartners had gotten the two recommended doses of the MMR vaccine last school year, well below the 95% threshold necessary to prevent an outbreak. Only Alaska and Idaho had lower MMR vaccination rates, the CDC data shows. 'Back-to-school brings a lot of kids together and measles is very, very infectious,' Troisi said. 'So if you bring kids together and one of them happens to have measles, that's just a great way to spread the virus.' Declining vaccination rates also leave more kids vulnerable, she said, including those who are not vaccinated, those who are vaccinated but immunocompromised and those who are too young to be vaccinated. 'If you have more kids at risk, then the chance of measles spreading increases,' she said. Wisconsin is one of just 15 states that allow parents to exempt their schoolchildren from required vaccines for 'personal conviction reasons,' in addition to religious beliefs or for medical reasons. There was a record rate of exemptions in the US last school year, CDC data shows, with about 3.6% of incoming kindergartners allowed to miss at least one required vaccine – and the exemption rate in Wisconsin was more than double that, at 7.6%. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that non-medical exemptions to school immunization requirements should be eliminated, a longstanding position that the organization recently reaffirmed. 'Exempting children for nonmedical reasons from immunizations is problematic for medical, public health, and ethical reasons and creates unnecessary risk to both individuals and communities,' AAP leaders wrote in a policy statement last month. 'Although there are certainly families who would value having the option to decline vaccines and also send their children to school, nonmedical exemptions threaten the safety of the entire school community and shift the burden of protecting their children to the parents of children who are medically fragile, immunocompromised, or unable to receive immunizations for medical reasons.' A new measles outbreak was announced in Michigan's Osceola County last week, with the original case resulting from an individual who was exposed to measles while traveling out of state. It's the third outbreak in the state, which has now reported at least 27 cases this year. Wyoming also reported a batch of new measles cases on Saturday: four new cases in Carbon County were exposed to an individual with a confirmed measles infection, bringing the state's total up to seven. Data from the Wyoming health department shows that Carbon County had some of the lowest vaccination rates among children in the state in 2023, ranking 21st out of 23 counties with just 66% of toddlers having gotten at least one dose of the MMR vaccine. 'County-level vaccination coverage estimates are important because public health issues often begin in small geographic areas and certain public health actions are most effective at the local level,' according to the Wyoming health department. Unvaccinated individuals tend to be geographically clustered within certain communities, experts say, as families with similar sociocultural beliefs often live near each other. 'This phenomenon results in a greater likelihood of disease outbreaks when a vaccine-preventable illness is introduced into these communities,' AAP leaders wrote in the policy statement. 'Outbreaks that start in communities with low vaccination coverage have the potential to spread beyond those communities into other communities with low vaccination coverage or into the broader population, particularly for diseases like measles, varicella, and pertussis.' While the start of the school year poses new risks, it also creates opportunities for trusted community leaders to encourage and promote vaccination, experts say. 'We do know that if vaccine clinics are held at schools, that will increase (coverage) just by making it easier for parents to get their kids vaccinated,' Troisi said. 'School nurses are respected, so having them talk about how important vaccines are is another strategy.'
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
A massive US measles outbreak has slowed but the start of the school year brings renewed risk of spread
Texas hasn't reported a new outbreak-related measles case in nearly a month — a hopeful sign that one of the largest outbreaks the United States has seen in decades is starting to slow. But the measles threat hasn't faded as new outbreaks and growing case counts in other states add to the national tally. There have been more measles cases reported in the US in the past month – at least 89 confirmed cases since the start of July – than in most years since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter century ago, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this year's total – 1,356 confirmed cases since January – is higher than it's been in more than 30 years. There have been 32 outbreaks this year, accounting for nearly 90% of all cases since January. Only 10 states remain at zero cases reported this year. The start of the school year in the US poses new threats for the spread of measles amid a record-breaking year for cases and lagging vaccination rates. Experts say that declining childhood vaccination rates across the US coupled with ongoing spread of measles in the US – and large outbreaks in neighboring Canada and Mexico – have raised concerns as children start to gather for the new school year. 'Nobody has a crystal ball, but the conditions are there to see an increased number of cases,' said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth Houston. On Saturday, Wisconsin reported nine new cases – all linked to the same exposure during travel to another US state. The state health department isn't releasing more details about the cases – including the vaccination status of the individuals or the specific state they traveled to – in order to 'balance individual privacy for what the public needs to know' and because the risk of community spread is considered to be low, Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Bureau of Communicable Diseases, said at a news briefing on Monday. But new data published by the CDC last week shows that kindergartners in Wisconsin had one of the lowest rates of coverage with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Only 84.8% of kindergartners had gotten the two recommended doses of the MMR vaccine last school year, well below the 95% threshold necessary to prevent an outbreak. Only Alaska and Idaho had lower MMR vaccination rates, the CDC data shows. 'Back-to-school brings a lot of kids together and measles is very, very infectious,' Troisi said. 'So if you bring kids together and one of them happens to have measles, that's just a great way to spread the virus.' Declining vaccination rates also leave more kids vulnerable, she said, including those who are not vaccinated, those who are vaccinated but immunocompromised and those who are too young to be vaccinated. 'If you have more kids at risk, then the chance of measles spreading increases,' she said. Wisconsin is one of just 15 states that allow parents to exempt their schoolchildren from required vaccines for 'personal conviction reasons,' in addition to religious beliefs or for medical reasons. There was a record rate of exemptions in the US last school year, CDC data shows, with about 3.6% of incoming kindergartners allowed to miss at least one required vaccine – and the exemption rate in Wisconsin was more than double that, at 7.6%. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that non-medical exemptions to school immunization requirements should be eliminated, a longstanding position that the organization recently reaffirmed. 'Exempting children for nonmedical reasons from immunizations is problematic for medical, public health, and ethical reasons and creates unnecessary risk to both individuals and communities,' AAP leaders wrote in a policy statement last month. 'Although there are certainly families who would value having the option to decline vaccines and also send their children to school, nonmedical exemptions threaten the safety of the entire school community and shift the burden of protecting their children to the parents of children who are medically fragile, immunocompromised, or unable to receive immunizations for medical reasons.' A new measles outbreak was announced in Michigan's Osceola County last week, with the original case resulting from an individual who was exposed to measles while traveling out of state. It's the third outbreak in the state, which has now reported at least 27 cases this year. Wyoming also reported a batch of new measles cases on Saturday: four new cases in Carbon County were exposed to an individual with a confirmed measles infection, bringing the state's total up to seven. Data from the Wyoming health department shows that Carbon County had some of the lowest vaccination rates among children in the state in 2023, ranking 21st out of 23 counties with just 66% of toddlers having gotten at least one dose of the MMR vaccine. 'County-level vaccination coverage estimates are important because public health issues often begin in small geographic areas and certain public health actions are most effective at the local level,' according to the Wyoming health department. Unvaccinated individuals tend to be geographically clustered within certain communities, experts say, as families with similar sociocultural beliefs often live near each other. 'This phenomenon results in a greater likelihood of disease outbreaks when a vaccine-preventable illness is introduced into these communities,' AAP leaders wrote in the policy statement. 'Outbreaks that start in communities with low vaccination coverage have the potential to spread beyond those communities into other communities with low vaccination coverage or into the broader population, particularly for diseases like measles, varicella, and pertussis.' While the start of the school year poses new risks, it also creates opportunities for trusted community leaders to encourage and promote vaccination, experts say. 'We do know that if vaccine clinics are held at schools, that will increase (coverage) just by making it easier for parents to get their kids vaccinated,' Troisi said. 'School nurses are respected, so having them talk about how important vaccines are is another strategy.'
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
A massive US measles outbreak has slowed but the start of the school year brings renewed risk of spread
Vaccines Children's healthFacebookTweetLink Follow Texas hasn't reported a new outbreak-related measles case in nearly a month — a hopeful sign that one of the largest outbreaks the United States has seen in decades is starting to slow. But the measles threat hasn't faded as new outbreaks and growing case counts in other states add to the national tally. There have been more measles cases reported in the US in the past month – at least 89 confirmed cases since the start of July – than in most years since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter century ago, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this year's total – 1,356 confirmed cases since January – is higher than it's been in more than 30 years. There have been 32 outbreaks this year, accounting for nearly 90% of all cases since January. Only 10 states remain at zero cases reported this year. The start of the school year in the US poses new threats for the spread of measles amid a record-breaking year for cases and lagging vaccination rates. Experts say that declining childhood vaccination rates across the US coupled with ongoing spread of measles in the US – and large outbreaks in neighboring Canada and Mexico – have raised concerns as children start to gather for the new school year. 'Nobody has a crystal ball, but the conditions are there to see an increased number of cases,' said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UTHealth Houston. On Saturday, Wisconsin reported nine new cases – all linked to the same exposure during travel to another US state. The state health department isn't releasing more details about the cases – including the vaccination status of the individuals or the specific state they traveled to – in order to 'balance individual privacy for what the public needs to know' and because the risk of community spread is considered to be low, Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer in the Wisconsin Department of Health Services Bureau of Communicable Diseases, said at a news briefing on Monday. But new data published by the CDC last week shows that kindergartners in Wisconsin had one of the lowest rates of coverage with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Only 84.8% of kindergartners had gotten the two recommended doses of the MMR vaccine last school year, well below the 95% threshold necessary to prevent an outbreak. Only Alaska and Idaho had lower MMR vaccination rates, the CDC data shows. 'Back-to-school brings a lot of kids together and measles is very, very infectious,' Troisi said. 'So if you bring kids together and one of them happens to have measles, that's just a great way to spread the virus.' Declining vaccination rates also leave more kids vulnerable, she said, including those who are not vaccinated, those who are vaccinated but immunocompromised and those who are too young to be vaccinated. 'If you have more kids at risk, then the chance of measles spreading increases,' she said. Wisconsin is one of just 15 states that allow parents to exempt their schoolchildren from required vaccines for 'personal conviction reasons,' in addition to religious beliefs or for medical reasons. There was a record rate of exemptions in the US last school year, CDC data shows, with about 3.6% of incoming kindergartners allowed to miss at least one required vaccine – and the exemption rate in Wisconsin was more than double that, at 7.6%. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that non-medical exemptions to school immunization requirements should be eliminated, a longstanding position that the organization recently reaffirmed. 'Exempting children for nonmedical reasons from immunizations is problematic for medical, public health, and ethical reasons and creates unnecessary risk to both individuals and communities,' AAP leaders wrote in a policy statement last month. 'Although there are certainly families who would value having the option to decline vaccines and also send their children to school, nonmedical exemptions threaten the safety of the entire school community and shift the burden of protecting their children to the parents of children who are medically fragile, immunocompromised, or unable to receive immunizations for medical reasons.' A new measles outbreak was announced in Michigan's Osceola County last week, with the original case resulting from an individual who was exposed to measles while traveling out of state. It's the third outbreak in the state, which has now reported at least 27 cases this year. Wyoming also reported a batch of new measles cases on Saturday: four new cases in Carbon County were exposed to an individual with a confirmed measles infection, bringing the state's total up to seven. Data from the Wyoming health department shows that Carbon County had some of the lowest vaccination rates among children in the state in 2023, ranking 21st out of 23 counties with just 66% of toddlers having gotten at least one dose of the MMR vaccine. 'County-level vaccination coverage estimates are important because public health issues often begin in small geographic areas and certain public health actions are most effective at the local level,' according to the Wyoming health department. Unvaccinated individuals tend to be geographically clustered within certain communities, experts say, as families with similar sociocultural beliefs often live near each other. 'This phenomenon results in a greater likelihood of disease outbreaks when a vaccine-preventable illness is introduced into these communities,' AAP leaders wrote in the policy statement. 'Outbreaks that start in communities with low vaccination coverage have the potential to spread beyond those communities into other communities with low vaccination coverage or into the broader population, particularly for diseases like measles, varicella, and pertussis.' While the start of the school year poses new risks, it also creates opportunities for trusted community leaders to encourage and promote vaccination, experts say. 'We do know that if vaccine clinics are held at schools, that will increase (coverage) just by making it easier for parents to get their kids vaccinated,' Troisi said. 'School nurses are respected, so having them talk about how important vaccines are is another strategy.'
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Texas measles outbreak spreads to Oklahoma
The west Texas measles outbreak has now spread to Oklahoma, as well as New Mexico, with more than 258 cases reported Tuesday across the three states. That number, by early March, was near the total for the entire U.S. last year, where the count was 285, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since last Friday, the Texas Department of Health Services said 25 more confirmed cases have been reported, bringing that state's total to 223. New Mexico's Department of Health reported 33 measles cases, an increase of three from last week. Twenty-nine of the infected patients in Texas have been hospitalized, an increase of six, per CNN. And the two cases in Oklahoma are linked by exposure to the Texas and New Mexico outbreak, according to Oklahoma health officials. 'Even with climbing case counts, experts say these numbers are a severe undercount,' CNN reported. The article quoted Dr. Catherine Troisi, infectious disease epidemiologist with UTHealth Houston, saying, 'So it depends on where the infectious person goes to spread measles to see how far and how many other cases are going to result from it.' The outbreak is concerning enough that the CDC sent advisors to help try to contain it. New Mexico officials said they are bracing for more cases, given how contagious measles is. 'This is a virus that will spread, certainly, until mid-May. So we have a couple more months of this. We are certainly going to exceed last year's levels massively,' Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Philadelphia Children's Hospital, told CNN. Measles has been considered eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, but a decrease in uptake of measles vaccine and international travel have contributed to outbreaks. At least 12 states have measles cases linked to international travel, per the CDC. People can be exposed to measles in countries where the virus is endemic and bring it home, where numbers spread due to lack of vaccination, per health officials. In the Texas outbreak, though, it's not known how many have not been vaccinated. And five of those who got measles said they'd had at least one dose of the two-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Those who were born before 1957 and likely had measles already, as well as those who have received both vaccine doses, are not believed to be at risk. But measles is extremely contagious, so health experts estimate that 90% of those who did not get vaccinated or have natural immunity and are exposed will develop the fever, rash and other symptoms. Measles is also a disease that works directly on the immune system, creating what has been dubbed 'immune amnesia.' As Deseret News earlier reported, measles infection can wipe the immune system's memory that it has had other illnesses, making it susceptible to future infection with those. Highly contagious, people can pass the virus on before symptoms appear, so they don't know they have it. And it's spread through air when someone with measles coughs, sneezes or otherwise disperses virus into the air. To add to the risk, that air can stay contaminated for at least a couple of hours, exposing others who have no idea. That was the story in the East, where health officials announced that anyone passing through parts of Terminal A at Dulles International Airport on March 5 might have been exposed to measles, as Deseret News reported. An international traveler ended up at the hospital two days later in the emergency department, where measles was diagnosed. And this week, Philadelphia officials are warning of potential exposures to measles at several health facilities last week. An individual was exposed to measles during international travel and visited the South Philadelphia Health and Literacy Center, which houses a children's primary care unit and part of the health department, as well as the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia emergency room, according to CBS News. The concern is nationwide. Health officials in the Utah Department of Health and Human Services issued a press release recently urging residents to check their immunization records or talk to their health care providers to see if they are adequately vaccinated. In Utah, people can learn that status by visiting They can also look at their immunization records in the Docket app or website. Per that notice, 'A person who has measles can spread the illness to others even before they have symptoms. Most people will have mild illnesses like fever, rash, diarrhea, or ear infection. Measles can also cause pneumonia, encephalitis (brain infection), seizures, and even death. Young children, pregnant women, and people who have weakened immune systems are especially at risk of severe complications from measles.' Dr. Asim Cheema, internal medicine and cardiology physician at Your Doctors Online, provided advice for parents on how to keep their children and themselves safe: Get vaccinated. Know the symptoms. Reduce exposure, especially for those too young to be vaccinated. For those who are exposed, Cheema recommends monitoring symptoms for up to two weeks and isolating if needed. It's also important to call ahead before visiting a doctor if measles is suspected to avoid exposing anyone else at the clinic. 'The virus doesn't discriminate — it will find and infect susceptible individuals regardless of age or health status. The current measles resurgence represents a critical public health challenge,' Cheema said in a written statement, noting possible complications that include pneumonia, brain swelling and even death. Others note that measles can cause vision and hearing damage and developmental problems. Nicholas Rupp of the Salt Lake County Health Department told Deseret News that students who are under- or unvaccinated with confirmed exposure to measles can be excluded from school and told to quarantine for up to 21 days to watch for symptoms. 'If they are confirmed exposed, yes, under- and unvaccinated students will need to quarantine at home for 21 days to watch for symptoms. 'The only exception is if the exposed student receives post-exposure prophylaxis (which for measles is MMR vaccine) within three days of the exposure,' he said. 'Given that people with measles are contagious up to four days before the telltale rash appears, the three-day window can be challenging to meet since the original patient may not know they have measles and not just a cold until after that window has passed.'
