May 31, 2014
Coverage of the CDC report of 288 confirmed cases of measles in the US this year received almost universal coverage with nearly all sources quoting the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat urging people to get vaccinated. ABC World News (5/29, lead story, 3:10, Sawyer) reported, “An old enemy is back: the CDC has issued an urgent new warning about measles,” adding, “remember, this is a virus that can take lives.” Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the CDC and ABC’s Chief Medical Editor, added, “Measles is wildly infectious,” and the number of cases this year is “the most since the virus was eliminated in the US back in 2000.” Besser pointed out that the Amish in Ohio and an area in San Diego both are home to unvaccinated residents, who acquired measles while traveling abroad. Besser added: “I just talked to the CDC and they’re very concerned about this.”
The CBS Evening News (5/29, story 10, 1:35, Lapook) reported, “the number of cases is up sharply this year” over 300 according to the CDC, and “the most in 20 years.” CBS (Lapook) Added, “Ninety-seven percent of the cases began with a traveler bringing measles back to the United States.” The CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat is shown saying, “Most of this is people who have decided not to be vaccinated, exempting from vaccines through personal beliefs or philosophical reasons, and when measles virus is imported into the United States and finds an unimmunized person, that person will get measles.” She added, “The critical issue is that if you’re traveling around the world and you haven’t been vaccinated against measles, chances are you’re going to get it and bring it back home.”
NBC Nightly News (5/29, story 6, 0:25, Williams) reported that at 288 cases, “that’s a 20 year high and we’re only five months into the year.”
The New York Times (5/30, Mcneil, Subscription Publication) reports the growth in cases is happening “largely because of resistance to vaccination.” It says there have been “288 confirmed cases” in the US this year, the most since 1994. Schuchat commented, “This is not the kind of record we want to break.” It also points out that “an unvaccinated American child who develops measles has about a one in 500 chance of dying.” Of the 288 cases so far this year, 43 “were hospitalized,” and none have died. “Almost half” were among Amish in Ohio in an outbreak “that started with missionaries who had traveled to the Philippines.” Another large outbreak was in California “where large numbers of wealthy parents refuse to vaccinate their children.” There were also 26 cases in Manhattan, where “doctors and nurses did not promptly recognize the symptoms.”
The Wall Street Journal (5/30, Mehrotra, Subscription Publication) reports that measles has been officially eliminated in the US, but that cases occur from travel abroad. It does not feature any quotations from the CDC.
The Washington Post (5/29, Bernstein) reports that the number is a record since 2000 and that the largest “clusters are in Ohio (138 confirmed cases), California (60) and New York (26).” Dr. Schuchat is quoted calling the outbreaks “a wake-up call for travelers and parents,” adding, “measles vaccine is very safe and effective and measles can be serious.” She also pointed out that while infants generally are not vaccinated in their first year, “infants traveling abroad can be inoculated with one dose as young as six months.”
USA Today (5/30, Painter) also quotes Dr. Schuchat from “a telephone news conference” saying, “this is a reminder that we cannot let our guard down.” In Knox County, Ohio which has had 100 cases, county Health Commissioner Julie Miller said, “The Amish population in Knox County has been very cooperative in getting vaccinated or self-reporting (if they have symptoms) or staying home if they do get the measles.”
The Los Angeles Times (5/30, Brown) quotes Dr. Schuchat saying, “Measles anywhere in the world can reach our communities and unvaccinated Americans are at risk.” She also said, “Our key message today is that we can stop this from being an even greater problem.”
The AP (5/30, Stobbe) also quotes Dr. Schuchat as above and points out that no one in the US has died from measles since 2003.
Bloomberg News (5/30, Basak) reports the confirmed cases this year are “spread among 18 states and New York City” and are “the most since 963 cases were reported in 1994, prompted by an outbreak in Colorado.” Dr. Schuchat commented, “Measles may be forgotten, but it isn’t gone.”
Reuters (5/30, Beasley) quotes Dr. Schuchat as above and links the outbreak in Ohio to the Philippines.
The Washington Post (5/30) in its editorial warns of “reversals” in the fight against infectious disease, and says that measles “affects young children.” It argues that the vaccine “is safe, inexpensive and effective” and blames failure to vaccinate on suspicion, ignorance, and weak laws in some states, but says that the disease “can be stopped with comprehensive and proper immunization.”
Article courtesy American Medical Association
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