Over the past few months, measles has been spreading quickly through states and school systems in the United States.
Eighteen states in the US have reported cases, and health officials are working hard to stop the virus from spreading even faster. So, health officials are telling people in the U.S. to double-check their shots and make sure they are up to date, including the Measles vaccine.
“This is why it’s urgent for us to sort of address vaccination so that we can really slow down the march of measles,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “This is what we’re seeing with some vaccination rates in the country as well as the global situation.”
There isn’t enough information yet to figure out these trends, even though the number of cases keeps going up. That’s why investigations are still going on. But Daskalakis said that most of the cases are caused by Americans who travel without getting vaccinated and then bring the virus back with them.
“The measles disease can be easily avoided because there is a safe vaccine that is easy to get.” Because of this, Daskalakis added, “Even though there are more cases in the U.S., we have the technology and the skills to stop measles.”
The CDC said that Americans who aren’t sure about their vaccines should talk to their doctor at least six weeks before their trip to make sure they are up to date.
So far, there have been cases in many states across the United States. The most have been in Illinois, especially in Chicago. Eighteen of the cases in the past few weeks happened at one migrant center. Health officials 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. Getting your shots on time is the best way to make sure you don’t get the virus from someone else.
