Measles in My Home Town—Get Vaccinated!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting that the number of cases of measles in the U.S. is the highest it's been since 1996. Of the 118 cases reported so far, 105 occurred in unvaccinated people. Forty percent of those who have contracted measles have been hospitalized.

One of the outbreaks is happening in Charlottesville, Va. where I generally hang out. From the local press:

The Charlottesville Health Department has confirmed that three residents of the Thomas Jefferson Health District have contracted measles. The Charlottesville Waldorf school released a statement, saying one of the confirmed cases was from a student at the school.

Dr. Lilian Peake stated the initial case was confirmed on May 19. An adult female resident of Charlottesville was hospitalized after reportedly contracting the virus while traveling in India. She has since been released and is doing well….

The school released a statement Thursday evening saying one of the confirmed cases was from a student at the school. An official told CBS19 the 7th grade student contracted measles from a visitor to his/her home and has since come in contact with more than 200 people at the school. The Health Department has spoken with 80 of those people, of which nearly half, 35, reportedly have not been vaccinated.

Reportedly, the last case of measles in the Charlottesville area was over 20 years ago. I hope nobody gets seriously hurt, but people, get your kids vaccinated!

As for me? Having grown up in the pre-measles vaccine era, I had measles when I was seven years old.

Kudos to Pamela Friedman.