U.S. Loses Measles-Free Status for First Time in 26 Years as Cases Surge Amid Vaccine Skepticism
U.S. Measles Cases Reach Highest Level in Decades
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Skeptical of Vaccine Efficacy
The United States, which has recently seen thousands of measles cases, has lost its status as a "measles-free country" for the first time in 26 years.
According to The New York Times (NYT) on November 13 (local time), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization's regional office for the Americas, recently revoked the United States' status as a country that had eliminated measles.
Public health experts had previously predicted that the United States would soon lose its measles-free status after the number of measles cases in the country surged over the past two years to its highest level in decades.
The United States had maintained this status since 2000.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States has seen more than 5,400 measles cases this year alone. This is a significant increase compared with the dozens of cases reported annually over the past 30 years.
The sharp rise in measles cases in the United States coincided with the tenures of U.S. President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Secretary Kennedy Jr. has expressed skepticism about the efficacy of all vaccines, including the measles vaccine. In particular, he has claimed that vaccination causes autism and has cut federal funding for some vaccine research.
To regain its measles-free status, the United States must demonstrate that the measles virus has not spread for at least 12 months.
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The NYT described the development as a shocking reversal for a country that had effectively controlled measles, a vaccine-preventable disease, for decades. It reported that several countries had lost their measles-free status and some had regained it, but that doing so took time.
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