{"id":9083,"date":"2019-02-10T19:04:16","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T00:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/?p=9083"},"modified":"2019-02-11T09:54:18","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T14:54:18","slug":"six-musings-triggered-by-the-latest-measles-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/index.php\/six-musings-triggered-by-the-latest-measles-outbreak\/2019\/02\/10\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Musings Triggered by the Latest Measles Outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Source: CDC<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2018, there were 372 cases of measles in the United States<\/a>, the largest number since 2014. This year, we’ve already had 79 cases, many from a large outbreak in the Pacific Northwest — where anti-vaccine proponents recently protested efforts to restrict nonmedical vaccine exemptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A few ruminations triggered by this outbreak.<\/p>\n

1. The vaccine is extraordinarily effective at preventing measles, lulling us into a false sense of security. <\/strong>After many years of clinical practice, the total number of measles cases seen by my wife (a pediatrician) and me (an infectious diseases specialist) is … two. We’ve both seen one.<\/p>\n

The measles vaccine is wonderfully effective — think how contagious it is! — but the net result is that most clinicians in the United States have never seen a case. Here, take a look at this poll:<\/p>\n

\n

Simple poll for you ID and non-ID clinicians out there. If you answer Yes to the question, please help by providing the context (when it was, where it was, why it happened, etc).
Have you seen a case of measles in the post-measles vaccine era?<\/p>\n

— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) February 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n