Rio Hondo College Newspaper

El Paisano

Rio Hondo College Newspaper

El Paisano

Rio Hondo College Newspaper

El Paisano

Measles virus continues on

Panic across southern California spreads as the number of infected measles patients increases from the Disneyland outbreak.

Since January 7, at least 21 cases of measles have been reported in Los Angeles County.  17 of those cases have been linked to Disneyland. At least 73 cases have been reported in California, states NBC Los Angeles News.  State health officials report that  50 of those cases are, in fact, related to the Disneyland outbreak.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 121 cases of measles have been reported this year alone.  The disease has reached 17 U.S states and is rapidly continuing to spread due to an increase of Americans without measles immunization.  The number of cases so early in the year is tremendous since the annual approximation of measles cases is 220.   During 2014 though, the number of cases greatly increased.  Within 27 states, 644 cases were documented by the CDC last year.

As the CDC explains, the main reason why the measles virus is so contagious is due to its capability of living on surfaces and in the air for as long as two hours.  The infection rate of measles is so great that there is a 90 percent chance of becoming infected if exposed to those with it.

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The decrease of measles immunization is due to numerous reasons.  The biggest of reasons being, that the measles vaccine may cause autism when administered to children at a young age.

Many parents in the United States and the United Kingdom strongly believe that their children’s autistic development was cause by the measles vaccine.  There has not been any scientific links between the two yet.  The cause for Autism is still unknown.

Another reason why many people may not be vaccinated, concerning adults, is due to the on- going argument of ‘government control’.  Theories such as the Sandy Hook shooting and the Boston Marathon, and recently, the Ebola outbreak have many thinking this may all be a hoax.

The newest advocate for the measles hoax is television and radio host, Glenn Beck. In a recent interview with MSNBC, Beck claims that the measles outbreak is a hoax the government is using for, ‘government obedience.’

However, many of the ‘statistics’ Beck used during this interview concerning this year’s measles outbreak are incorrect.  Beck claims the infected people in California were exposed to measles via visiting foreigners from the Philippines and individuals from an Amish community.  Based on statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, the situation that Beck speaks of took place in 2014 within Ohio.

The ODH reports that its 2014 outbreak took place in an Amish community that was exposed to the disease when unvaccinated travelers returned from the Philippines. This case was far larger than the current Disneyland outbreak.  A total of 382 cases were reported in Ohio alone last year.

With progressing time, more individuals may become infected.  Parents fear that children who are still too young to receive vaccines will be the most impacted.

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