VIRGINIA — Measles cases in the U.S. reached 2,030 on Friday. This marks more diagnoses than any year since 1991, and cases subsequently appeared in rural areas of Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Virginia confirmed 91 measles cases, primarily concentrated in the central region. To address the outbreak, Virginia's Piedmont Health District partnered with Centra Health in late April to establish a dispatch number for paramedic home visits related to measles.
The program permits healthcare workers to conduct family-wide testing and administer treatments for symptoms such as fever and dehydration at patients' homes. Dr. Chris Thomson, executive vice president for Centra Health, stated, "By being able to get to someone who calls at an early stage of their illness, and perhaps being able to go to a home and provide IV fluids to someone who's dehydrated keeps them from becoming ill enough to warrant a hospitalization. Also by being in the home, we're able to identify whether or not there are others who are ill, providing more surveillance than we would if we did not have this service."
The joint initiative by the health district and Centra does not prioritize vaccine administration, though vaccines are offered. Health District Director Dr. Maria Almond said, "There's a strong desire in public health to run right towards an outbreak shouting, 'We have the answer! Get vaccinated!' But when we start with what we believe is the answer for them, that door is just going to shut."
The majority of measles patients are children and teenagers, and more than 92% of them are unvaccinated. Out of the 2,030 measles patients, 127 individuals, or 6%, have been hospitalized. There have been 30 new measles outbreaks this year, compared to 48 in the previous year.
The U.S. was declared free of endemic measles circulation in 2000. The Pan American Health Organization is scheduled to evaluate the U.S. measles elimination status in November. Almond indicated that the measles outbreak could continue for several more months.