ALMOST a decade after it was declared eliminated, measles is making a comeback in the US.
Increasing numbers of upper-middle-class parents are opting out of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine because of fears of a link to autism, The Australian reports.
Although the link remains unproved, autism cases are continuing to rise - the rate in the US is about one in every 150 eight-year-old children.
In March, it emerged that a US government panel had recommended compensating the family of Hannah Poling, 9, agreeing that vaccines had “significantly aggravated” an existing cellular disease, causing brain damage with autism-like symptoms.
It is thought that 2-3 per cent of American school children are under-vaccinated because of a non-medical waiver - meaning their parents are opting out on principle. As a direct result, there have been 72 confirmed cases of measles in 10 states this year, more than double last year’s rate.
“Of the people infected by the measles virus, only one had documentation of prior vaccination,” the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“Many of the cases among US children occurred in children whose parents claimed exemption from vaccination due to religious or personal beliefs.”
Before the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1963, the US had hundreds of thousands of measles cases every year, with 48,000 hospital admissions, 400 to 500 deaths and about 1000 patients left with disabilities.
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