Hundreds vaccinated after measles emergency in New York

NEW YORK, United States - A New York county which declared a state of emergency over a measles outbreak is on the "right path" after administering hundreds of vaccinations in two days, the chief of the US district said on Friday.

Under the emergency, Rockland County banned non-vaccinated minors from public places in a bid to prevent the once-eliminated disease from spreading.

Planned for 30 days from midnight Wednesday, the emergency comes during a US surge in measles cases, linked to an anti-vaccination movement.

"We have already seen over 500 (new vaccinations) in the last couple of days," Rockland County Executive Ed Day said on CNBC TV.

"People simply understand now that we are serious about this," added Day, whose district is 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of downtown New York.

"We believe we are on a right path now to get at least a 93 percent immunization rate with the first shot," close to the level considered necessary to end the outbreak.

Although measles was declared officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, outbreaks have occurred in five states this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The outbreaks are linked to travelers who brought the illness back from other countries, and the majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated, the CDC said.

The World Health Organization has warned that the growing anti-vaccine movement in richer nations constitutes a top-10 global health threat.

The phenomenon has adherents in several Western nations, including Britain and France, but is particularly high profile in the US.

Between January 1 and March 21, there were 314 cases of measles in the United States, the CDC said.

Rockland County, with a population of more than 300,000, had registered 157 cases as of Friday.

Despite major vaccination campaigns since the outbreak began in October, around 27 percent of minors aged one to 18 in the county remained unvaccinated, Day said earlier in the week.

The worst affected neighborhoods are those with a high ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, where many oppose vaccines on religious grounds.

Many vaccines are theoretically mandatory for children to attend school in the United States. But 47 out of 50 states allow exemptions on religious, moral, or personal grounds.

Washington state, in the country's northwest, in January declared a state of emergency over an outbreak of measles, an airborne infection causing fever, coughing and rashes that can be deadly in rare cases.

Day on Friday called for a tightening of the school vaccination legislation and said a draft law to that effect was being discussed at the state level.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US county declares state of emergency amid measles outbreak

NEW YORK--A New York county hit by a measles outbreak declared a state of emergency Tuesday and banned non-vaccinated minors from public places in a bid to prevent the once-eliminated disease from spreading.

The measure, which defines a public place as anywhere "more than 10 persons are intended to congregate" -- including public transport -- was announced by officials in Rockland County, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of New York City.

Due to come into effect at midnight Wednesday for 30 days, it appears to be the most radical step by US officials following outbreaks in several regions blamed on an anti-vaccination movement.

"We must do everything in our power to end this outbreak and protect the health of those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and that of children too young to be vaccinated," said county executive Ed Day.

Day also criticized the "resistance" of some locals to health inspectors.

"They've been told 'we're not discussing this, do not come back,' when visiting the homes of infected individuals as part of their investigations," he said, branding such responses "unacceptable and irresponsible."

Rockland County, with a population of over 300,000, has registered 153 cases of measles, which was declared officially eliminated in 2000.

Despite major vaccination campaigns since the outbreak began in October, around 27 percent of minors aged one to 18 remain unvaccinated, Day said.

The worst affected neighborhoods are those with a high ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, where many oppose vaccines on religious grounds.

Vaccinations are in theory required to go to school in the United States, but 47 of the 50 states -- including New York -- allow exemptions, notably for religious reasons.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Low vaccination rates, global outbreaks fuel US measles spread

A measles outbreak that has stricken at least 225 people in New York state since October began with a traveler who visited Israel during the Jewish high holidays and returned to a predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Rockland County.

A similar pattern unfolded three months later and nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away when a person who visited Eastern Europe returned to a community with strong ties to a local church group in Vancouver, Washington. More than 50 people fell ill there.

In both instances, US travelers picked up measles in foreign countries where the highly contagious disease was running rampant and brought it back to places where vaccination rates were too low by U.S. public health standards, setting off the worst outbreaks seen in those states in decades.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says New York’s outbreak marks the highest tally of imported cases since measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000.

The two outbreaks appear to be winding down, health officials say, after concerted efforts to pinpoint the origins and isolate and inoculate those who were exposed but unprotected and educate parents who had resisted vaccines.

The disease has spread mostly among school-age children whose parents declined to get them vaccinated. Most cited philosophical or religious reasons, or concerns - debunked by medical science - that the three-way vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) could cause autism, authorities said.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said another key factor was mere “complacency” in an age where the potential ravages of measles are unfamiliar to parents who came of age after the vaccine was introduced in 1957.

In Rockland County, the suburb north of Manhattan accounting for the bulk of cases, the state has vaccinated 15,000 children since the outbreak began there last autumn, Zucker said. The Brooklyn borough of New York City was another hot spot.

Still, officials say the measles crisis in New York and Washington states offer a lesson about the importance of maintaining a minimum level of “herd” immunization against dangerous, preventable diseases such as measles.

It also highlights the global nature of disease control, in which a hot spot of infection in one country can ignite a distant outbreak in an immunization-weak spot of another, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, Washington’s top epidemiologist.

Here are some key facts about measles and immunization, according to public health experts and the CDC.

WHAT IMMUNIZATION RATES ARE IDEAL?

A 95 percent rate of immunization is required to provide sufficient “herd” protection in a given population. Rates as low as 60 percent were found in parts of New York where measles spread, Zucker said.

HOW BAD CAN MEASLES GET?

Symptoms typically include high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, followed by tiny white spots inside the mouth and a red rash that can cover the body.

Serious and potentially fatal complications, especially in young children and pregnant women, can include pneumonia and swelling of the brain. Ear infections occur in about 10 percent of children with measles and can lead to permanent hearing loss.

One rare but fatal complication is subacute panencephalitis (SSPE), which can attack the central nervous system seven to 10 years after a person has recovered from measles.

HOW CONTAGIOUS IS MEASLES?

Measles is spread through casual contact with the virus, which can linger and remain infectious in the air of an enclosed space for up to two hours after it is breathed out by someone carrying the disease. The rate of transmission from an infected person to another individual nearby who lacks immunity is about 90 percent.

ORIGINS OF LATEST OUTBREAKS?

Health authorities say the strain of the virus identified in Washington state matches the one circulating widely in Ukraine since last year. The New York outbreak has been tracked back to separate flare-ups of measles in Israel and in Eastern Europe.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Teen daughter of US comedienne O'Donnell missing

NEW YORK, United States - The teenage daughter of American chat show host and comedienne Rosie O'Donnell is missing and police are looking for her in New York, the television star announced Tuesday.

Chelsea O'Donnell, 17, was last seen a week ago, the comedienne said on her website accompanied by a photograph of her daughter.

Chelsea left home with her therapy dog and is in need of medical attention after she stopped taking her medicine, O'Donnell said.

Police have been looking for her in the Rockland County area of New York, north of Manhattan, since August 16, O'Donnell said.

She was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, dark ripped blue jeans, women's grey converse sneakers and a black backpack.

Chelsea has a large tattoo of a dream catcher with the word "Breathe" and was with her six-month-old terrier Bear.

The comedienne appealed on anyone with any information to contact authorities or ring emergency services.

O'Donnell, who has also acted in films alongside Tom Hanks, was in the headlines most recently over a spat with billionaire White House contender Donald Trump.

Trump insulted her appearance during the Republican candidates' television debate earlier this month when questioned about his attitude to women.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com