by Gabriel Botello

The measles outbreak in Washington has reached the highest number of infections since 1996, and has now spread to California.

The disease known as measles has again reached the U.S and is spreading across the country. With rates low on people who take vaccinations for measles, many have been infected. The case of measles began with an international traveler who had contact with communities with low vaccination rates. This led to many outbreaks in the US, first starting in Washington.

According to the Washington Department of Health, “officials identified 11 health care facilities, 13 schools and child-care centers and over 100 public places, including stores, where people may have been exposed to the virus.”

In order to contain the infection from spreading, Washington declared a state of emergency where many nursing programs were put in place to encourage families to receive vaccinations and check-ups. This led to the increase of vaccinations throughout Washington and the beginning of controlling the disease within the state.

Unfortunately, diseases and bacteria spread rapidly and tend to become difficult to control when many people fly and travel from state to state on a daily basis. This led to the disease reaching California. Measles is continuing to spread within the state today.

According to information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments: Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, California and Georgia have reported cases of measles in 2019.

Measles is a disease in which a person develops a high fever and rashes throughout the body. This disease can easily spread through a cough or a sneeze and can remain in the air for about two hours, easily infecting a person without a vaccination. Sadly, this disease is very dangerous towards young children and has been known to hospitalize many who weren’t vaccinated.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “One or two out of every 1,000 children who get measles will die from complications.”

The measles vaccine is known to be very effective towards a human and is highly recommended within states that are infected. One dose of the vaccine is known to be 93 percent effective in preventing the infection and a second dose increases that resistance to 97 percent.

According to reports by CNN, “Vaccination rates are low in certain communities, with as few as 60 percent of children having been vaccinated.”

This measles outbreak is putting unvaccinated children and adults at risk and is continuing to spread across the US. With protocols being put into place, many people are vaccinating their children, hoping that this disease will be controlled soon.