Washington State Governor Declares Measles-Related State of Emergency

By Molly Harbarger | 25 January 2019

THE OREGONIAN — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency Friday over 31 cases of measles in the state.

The declaration allows the state to request medical resources from other states and tells state agencies to do everything possible to help workers who are treating people with measles and trying to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease.

“Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease that can be fatal in small children,” Inslee said. “The existence of 26 confirmed cases in the state of Washington creates an extreme public health risk that may quickly spread to other counties.”

Clark County announced Friday that there are 30 confirmed measles cases in the Vancouver area. One person in King County has also been diagnosed. […]

What is the Risk of Dying if You Catch Measles?

By Andrew Maynard | 4 February 2015

2020 SCIENCE — If you catch measles, what are your chances of dying?

When I was a kid, measles was one of those things you were expected to catch.  I had it when I was five, and must confess, I don’t remember much about the experience.  I do remember being confined to bed.  And I also remember being told that measles could cause blindness – as a budding reader, this scared me.  But I don’t recall anyone hinting at anything worse.  If my parents were worried, they didn’t show it. And I’d certainly never heard of kids who had died – even in playground rumors.

So as the current outbreak of measles in the US continues to spread, I’ve been intrigued by statements that the disease has a mortality rate of somewhere between one and three young children per thousand infected.

Of course I know as a public health academic that measles is highly infectious and can cause severe harm – even death.  But there was a dissonance between what I was reading and what I felt was correct. Surely if one out of every few hundred kids died as a result of measles as I was growing up, I’d have got wind of it? […]

Watch “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe“