Measles: No Measly Threat!

Measles has not been feared for a while due to its eradication, yet people could still be susceptible to an attack especially if they have not been vaccinated says a recent report.

Researchers recalled the measles outbreak in 2005 in Indiana, which had spread after an unvaccinated teenager contracted the virus and innocently passed it on to unvaccinated children during a church gathering. This spurred a large outbreak in USA, which also caused a financial drain on the exchequer by containing its spread and taking adequate steps to vaccinate children.

William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University has expressed concern over the many complications that could arise as fallout of measles, the serious ones being pneumonia and encephalitis. He also confirmed that the vaccine is absolutely safe.

From a worldwide perspective, eradication of measles still has a long way to go, according to Kim Mulholland, a professor of infectious-disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the only way to protect the children is to immunize as many children as possible.