Measles May Make You Vulnerable To Other Deadly Diseases

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to measles will become infected. That's a problem in outbreaks like the one in Rockland County, where small communities of people with low vaccination rates have led to 130 confirmed cases of measles in the past four months; or the one in the Pacific Northwest, where public health officials in Oregon and Washington report a combined 56 confirmed cases.

Forty-four of the patients in southwest Washington were not vaccinated against the disease and one patient had one shot of the two-shot series, the Associated Press reported. In Rockland County, four of every five patients had never been vaccinated and 3 percent had had one shot.

Surviving the measles leaves victims with side effects that could last for years, some scientists now believe. That makes measles a highly contagious, dangerous disease not only in itself — but also because it wreaks long-term havoc in the body's immune system.

Before mass vaccination, measles infected more than 95 percent of all children and was responsible for more than 4 million deaths each year around the world, according to a 2017 article in the Journal of Infection. In the United States alone, 400 to 500 people died of the measles every year, according to the Associated Press.

Then something unexpected happened following the introduction of the measles vaccine in the 1960s. Childhood deaths from all infectious diseases plummeted.

'Why?' was a mystery for half-a-century. But recently a team of scientists noted that the number of measles cases in the United States, Denmark, England and Wales predicted the number of deaths from other infections two to three years later, according to a report on Morning Edition from National Public Radio.

Their study of what they call "immune amnesia" suggested that measles damages the immune system severely for years. So severely that the body is vulnerable even to diseases it has seen before. Mass vaccination removed that vulnerability.

"By depleting measles incidence, vaccination has had important indirect benefits to reduce non-measles mortality," wrote Michael J. Mina in The Journal of Infection.

What would that mean for unvaccinated people?

First, measles is no minor childhood illness. Complications include pneumonia, blindness, deafness, ear infections, croup and encephalitis, which can lead to convulsions and cognitive impairments. Babies are the most likely to die from measles. Pregnant women risk damage to the fetus.

Then, "immune amnesia" means measles survivors are extra-vulnerable to other diseases for 2.5-5 years (the length of time is less in developed countries like the United States and more in developing countries, the study found).

Someone with the virus can infect a dozen or more people. Compare that to Ebola, where one case usually leads to two more, according to Vox.

The airborne virus can linger for up to four hours in a place where an infected person has been. And people who catch it can walk around without symptoms for up to three weeks.

The measles vaccine is safe; side effects are rare and usually mild. The safety of vaccines is always being monitored, says the Centers for Disease Control.

But a growing number of people have not been vaccinating their children either for religious or philosophical reasons. Washington State — particularly Clark County — has had a growing issue with declining immunization rates. For example, the number of kindergartners who have been immunized for measles has dropped 12 percent over the past 15 years.

The Ultra-Orthodox community in Rockland also has had low immunization rates, although local rabbis told health officials there is no proscription against vaccines.

The measles outbreak in Rockland County mostly affects that community in Spring Valley, New Square and Monsey.

For Rockland's confirmed measles cases:

• 82 percent have had 0 MMRs
• 3 percent have had 1 MMR
• 5 percent have had 2 MMRs
• 10 percent unknown status

Though the study of "immune amnesia" caused by measles is not definitive, its results indicate even more reason for children to be vaccinated, said Rockland County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert. "More work must be done to discover any link that may exist between the MMR vaccine and the prevention of other childhood infections. I continue to urge parents to have their children vaccinated as that is the best way to protect against possible measles exposure.”

Since the outbreak began in Rockland in October, 14,870 doses of MMR vaccine have been given at a clinic run by the county or its partners.

SEE ALSO:

• Amid National Outbreaks, Rockland, Brooklyn Hit 186 Measles Cases
  
• Clark County Measles Outbreak Cases Now 53 There, 5 In Oregon

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