A measles outbreak is feared in western Africa, where vaccinations were missed because of the Ebola outbreak.
A March 13 story reported “Measles vaccination campaign urged in Ebola-stricken areas.”
Researchers say they fear there could be as many as 100,000 to 225,000 cases of measles in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, with as many as 2,000 to 16,000 deaths.
The Ebola virus has killed 10,000 people, so measles could kill that many again.
In our country, measles is almost entirely preventable with vaccines, yet many parents choose not to vaccinate their babies based often on disproved scares about complications from the vaccine. Once we get a less than 90 percent vaccination rate in children, there will likely be many more outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases in our country. I hope this trend changes.
