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.”
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CDC warns people to get measles vaccine
CDC: US facing uptick in measles
December 6, 2013
USA Today (12/6, Szabo) reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced the US faces a spike in measles, with nine outbreaks and 175 confirmed cases to date in 2013, which roughly triples the yearly average, according to Director Thomas Frieden, MD. He added, “This isn’t the failure of a vaccine; it’s the failure to vaccinate,” as over 98% of patients failed to receive vaccinations. The paper notes that, while the disease has been virtually eliminated throughout the West, the US still sees an average of 60 “imported” cases each year, primarily among visitors from abroad. The article also attributes the spike to parents who refuse vaccinations, however, acknowledging that many of them live in the same communities.
Reuters (12/6, Beasley) reports the CDC acknowledges at least 172 of this year’s 175 US cases involved patients infected overseas or who caught the disease from somebody who traveled internationally, while the sources of the other three infections are yet to be determined.
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