The U.S. measles case total has climbed to 1,596, as an outbreak in South Carolina continues to grow. CIDRAP has the news.
South Carolina officials reported five new cases in an update. They also said that “all new case-patients were in quarantine before they contracted the disease, so no additional exposures occurred with these new cases. Currently the number of students quarantining at home is 139 following further investigations into potential exposures.”
Exposures came at two schools in Spartanburg County in South Carolina. Both of the schools have “low vaccination rates among the student body. At the Global Academy of South Carolina [one of the two schools], only 17% of students are up to date with measles vaccination.”
The CDC recorded 33 new measles cases last week nationwide. 86% of those cases have been “part of 44 outbreaks recorded this year. Last year the country had 16 outbreaks involving 69% of the 285 cases seen in the United States.” 92% of case-patients are “unvaccinated or have unknown vaccine status.” 12% of them have been hospitalized.
