Beyond the Noise #37: Measles is back

A measles outbreak in Philadelphia in the early 1990s might be a window into the future.
Show notes at www.microbe.tv/btn/btn-037/
Become a patron of Beyond the Noise at microbe.tv/contribute
----------- CONNECT -----------
🎯 Subscribe! bit.ly/2HOYdNP
Instagram: @profvrr and @microbe.tv
Twitter: @profvrr
TikTok: / microbe.tv
Facebook: / thisweekinvirology
Our Podcasts: microbe.tv
Contribute: www.microbe.tv/contribute/
----------- MORE VIROLOGY -----------
•My Virology Course virology.ws/course
•Virology Blog: www.virology.ws
•Virus Watch bit.ly/3ngvQIM
•Principles of Virology textbook amzn.to/34onDtg
----------- OUR SCIENCE PODCASTS -----------
•This Week in Virology bit.ly/30uUhrX
This Week in Parasitism bit.ly/3ndUNUZ
•This Week in Microbiology bit.ly/33tOUeO
•Urban Agriculture microbe.tv/urbanag
•This Week in Evolution bit.ly/3ne1bf5
•Immune bit.ly/2HOyCVb
•This Week in Neuroscience bit.ly/2So12Yd
•Infectious Disease Puscast bit.ly/3K4EKF0
- Who Am I? -
I’m Vincent Racaniello, Earth’s Virology Professor, and I believe that education should be free.
I’m also a professor of virology at Columbia University in New York. I’ve been doing research on viruses since 1976, and teaching virology in classrooms and online since 1999. On this KZbin channel I share videos of my lectures, podcasts, and more.
New videos are uploaded several times each week.
I do not run ads on our work as it is disruptive to learning. We depend on your support.
If you would like to support our work, go over to www.microbe.tv/contribute/
-----------------------
#microbe #viruses #coronavirus #pandemic
-----------------------

[@helengarrett6378]

I'm old enough to remember having measles. I remember not caring about anything. I remember sore eyes and lying quietly and listlessly in a dark room. If one of my kids were as limp and sick as I was I'd be scared! Kids don't just lay quietly awake for very long. They cry. They complaine. They try to get up. Or they sleep and then cry and complaine. I just slept and lay silent and sick and not caring about anything. Normal kids don't suffer quietly when they are sick and just wait for nothing to happen. I immunized my kids and they did not get messles or other childhood diseases I got. I was thankful. I remember my parents fear every summer about polio. When I was growing up we got both kinds of polio immunizations as soon as they were available. We got immunized at school and it was just so efficient. One after another of us in long lines got shots, T.B. tests, polio sugar cubes, whatever was coming online and we did not see the dreaded diseases that other generations of children suffered from. I actually saw a small baby who got whooping cough. My own children had been immunized. This tiny bit of a six month old baby coughed until she vomited again and again. She was hospitalized. She darned well nearly died because her know it all mother did not believe in vaccinations. Her older child also had severe coughing fits that left him exhasusted and vomiting over and over again but he was better off than the baby. Why she put her children through such agony I'll never understand. The scary situation didn't change her mind, either. She still never vaccinated her kids! I have nothing good to say about a mother like that who believes nonsense despite everything she went through and everything her children suffered.

[@susanne5803]

That's the advantage of being old: I had/ have relatives who had tuberculosis before treatment existed, polio with residual paralysis for life. I had all childhood diseases. There's a picture of me sitting in bed, thin, with glazing eyes, the fever triangle around my mouth, very transparent - measles. My kid always got their vaccinations as early as possible!

[@user-qg8bp1fn8m]

I remember feeling as if I had melted into the mattress. I was in bed for three days, sipping water or ginger ale through a straw. I was so weak when I finally sat up in that bed! It was terrible and my parents were very frightened. This was in 1959.

[@personzorz]

We're so lucky that measles was as infectious as it is because if it wasn't people would have gotten it as adults when their immune system would have had a very hard time bouncing back from the injury that it gives them. Damn Measles is a really bad thing, and the vaccine does such a service.

[@gferraro8353]

Chicago is having a outbreak in their migrant centers- 900 were in quarantine for almost a month. Just read a story of a mom who's child was very sick , and has 2 others. She was surprised to be contacted and quarantined plus all her contacts for 21days. It's so contagious, people don't understand how sick you get.

[@graysonric]

You are the only other person to mention the sore eyes. You described exactly the misery I felt as a 5yo with measles. I got some kind of bacterial infection from it too. That was the sickest I ever was until 2004 when a flu vaccine shortage kept me from getting a shot and I got the flu and then bronchitis and then severe pneumonia.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

As a child in the mid 60’s, I contracted measles, mumps, and chickenpox. Each disease was a misery, but measles made me want to die. Days of headache, fever, malaise, delirium, and weeks to recover my strength.

[@graysonric]

Me too except I got measles in 1956 when I was 5, mumps in 1966 (only months before the first vaccine) at 15, and chicken pox in 1973 as a 21yo college senior about to graduate (still no vaccine then). I have a photo of me at 7 with boys at a summer camp and one boy has leg braces from polio. Thank god for vaccines. My 98yo dad had only a mild case of Covid in February thanks to his gotten the booster two months before (and Paxlovid).

[@paulam3987]

My uncle got mumps as a kid and lost the hearing in one ear. It seriously impacted his ability to work in his field (eg., workers typically needed hearing in both ears to work in the type of job he did). It took him considerable time to find a company that would accept him.

[@jonmoceri]

I contracted pertussis (Whopping Cough) 10 years ago at age 55. Fully vaccinated. My 80 yo mother dx it because she had it when she was young. There was an outbreak of it in the Seattle area due to younger families deciding to not get vaccinated. You do not want pertussis. I lost a month of work.

[@sandbardoc]

I am a 50-year-old primary care physician who knew ONE person in my life with a true religious exemption - I met her in college. She had been raised in a culture of Christian Scientist. This was part of her and her family's culture for years, and she had been indoctrinated in this religion for her entire life. Some very small (in regards to the overall population) religious sects do avoid vaccines. That is very different from the patients that we are seeing now who suddenly declare that they are part of the "church of the internet" for the sole purpose of avoiding vaccinations in themselves or their children. It would be easier for me to understand, though still difficult for me to support, for people who have been raised within a religion for years compared to the large groups we have now who just claim a "religious exemption" for evasion.

[@lisavitale8410]

Another great video! Thank you for the information. It’s extremely sad to see these diseases making a come back here in the US. Vaccines due work. I do have a question about the measles vaccine. If you’ve already been fully vaccinated for measles, you don’t have to be concerned with getting, right? I love your books Paul Offit. I’ve read three of them and your book, Vaccinated, was extremely well written. Excellent for those wanting to learn more about the history of vaccines and about Maurice Hillemna who created more than 40 vaccines 💉. If memory serves me correctly, Hilleman created the measles vaccine. I’d never heard of Maurice Hilleman until reading Vaccinated. Sadly, scientists aren’t as well know as rock stars.

[@jaykanta4326]

There are a few new research publications showing that with the reduction in exposure to the measles virus some adults are losing immunity to measles, despite how they gained that immunity.

[@lisavitale8410]

@@jaykanta4326 🤦🏼‍♀🤦🏼‍♀🤦🏼‍♀, sadly the waning effects of vaccines do happen. Like the need for the tetanus booster every decade. I wonder if a measles booster will be recommended at some point? As a side note, I seem to recall around 2007 or 2008 there were increased cases of whooping cough and I believe it was recommended that a booster be given.

[@jaykanta4326]

@@lisavitale8410 enough outbreaks and at least older, vulnerable people will get more titer testing. At least until we know more about waning immunity to measles. It wasn’t even on the radar a decade ago.

[@lisavitale8410]

@@jaykanta4326 true enough.

[@Orangecattabby]

My sister and I had measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox. Several family members had polio--one had trouble swallowing and one had trouble walking. My daughter had none of these diseases--she was vaccinated. I think the two main problems are that people have not seen these diseases and the other most important one is that humans respond to stories and emotion, not facts and statistics. Most humans are going to do what their tribe is doing. I have a neighbor that would not get a SARS-Cov2 vaccine because his cousin told him not to. Until scientists, brimming with their charts and statistics, can tap into great stories and emotional content they and their spokespeople are not going to sway a large portion of the population. (At least if anti-vax people get tetanus they will not spread it to others.)

[@mgmartin51]

I haven't seen measles yet, but I regularly see pertussis (whooping cough) and I wonder about diphtheria and tetanus coming back with people opting out of vaccination.

[@gferraro8353]

Oakland county in Michigan is at only 66percent. They are offering vaccinations. Got to get numbers up..

[@lesfaby8997]

Offit is back!

[@TatianaBoshenka]

It breaks my heart that some parents put their kids at such risk, and even martyr them, for a wrongheaded religious idea.

[@wolpumba4099]

*Summary (English, German, Chinese)* *Measles is Back: A Conversation with Dr. Paul Offit* *Abstract:* In this episode of Beyond the Noise, Dr. Paul Offit discusses the resurgence of measles in the United States due to declining vaccination rates. He explores the historical context of measles outbreaks, highlighting the success of vaccination programs and the critical role of herd immunity. Dr. Offit expresses concern over religious exemptions to vaccination and their impact on community health, using the 1990 Philadelphia measles outbreak as a stark example. He emphasizes the importance of upholding compulsory vaccination laws to protect vulnerable children and prevent future outbreaks. *Sections:* *Measles Resurgence (**0:00**):* * *0:00**:* Measles cases are rising in the US due to a decline in childhood vaccination rates. * *0:51**:* The decline in vaccination is attributed to parents choosing not to vaccinate their children, often utilizing religious or philosophical exemptions. * *1:22**:* The issue extends beyond the MMR vaccine and affects all vaccines, with measles being the first to resurge due to its high contagiousness. *History of Measles Vaccination (**4:15**):* * *4:22**:* Prior to the measles vaccine in 1963, the US saw millions of cases and hundreds of deaths annually. * *4:48**:* The introduction of a second dose and school mandates led to measles elimination by 2000. * *5:33**:* The 1990 Philadelphia outbreak, originating from an unvaccinated individual, resulted in 1400 cases and 9 deaths, highlighting the impact of vaccine refusal. *Philadelphia Outbreak and Response (**5:37**):* * *5:40**:* The outbreak was centered around two religious communities that rejected vaccination and medical care. * *7:31**:* Philadelphia implemented a series of laws, starting with the ability to examine children, followed by hospitalization against parental will if necessary, culminating in compulsory vaccination. * *8:58**:* The ACLU notably refused to represent the churches, recognizing the risk to children's lives. * *9:51**:* The compulsory vaccination successfully curbed the outbreak, demonstrating the effectiveness of such measures. *Current Situation and Concerns (**10:39**):* * *10:47**:* Most US states still allow religious exemptions, raising concerns about protecting children and maintaining herd immunity. * *11:34**:* Dr. Offit questions the validity of religious exemptions, emphasizing the responsibility to care for children and communities. * *12:28**:* He expresses apprehension about future outbreaks, especially as winter approaches. *Masern sind zurück: Ein Gespräch mit Dr. Paul Offit* *Zusammenfassung:* In dieser Folge von Beyond the Noise spricht Dr. Paul Offit über das Wiederaufleben der Masern in den Vereinigten Staaten aufgrund sinkender Impfraten. Er untersucht den historischen Kontext von Masernausbrüchen und hebt den Erfolg von Impfprogrammen und die entscheidende Rolle der Herdenimmunität hervor. Dr. Offit äußert sich besorgt über religiöse Ausnahmen von der Impfung und deren Auswirkungen auf die Gesundheit der Gemeinschaft, wobei er den Masernausbruch von 1990 in Philadelphia als ein krasses Beispiel anführt. Er betont die Bedeutung der Aufrechterhaltung der Impfpflichtgesetze zum Schutz gefährdeter Kinder und zur Verhinderung zukünftiger Ausbrüche. *Abschnitte:* *Wiederaufleben der Masern (**0:00**):* * *0:00**:* Die Zahl der Masernfälle in den USA steigt aufgrund eines Rückgangs der Impfraten bei Kindern. * *0:51**:* Der Rückgang der Impfungen wird darauf zurückgeführt, dass Eltern sich dafür entscheiden, ihre Kinder nicht zu impfen, oft unter Berufung auf religiöse oder philosophische Ausnahmen. * *1:22**:* Das Problem geht über den MMR-Impfstoff hinaus und betrifft alle Impfstoffe, wobei Masern aufgrund ihrer hohen Ansteckungsfähigkeit als erstes wieder auftreten. *Geschichte der Masernimpfung (**4:15**):* * *4:22**:* Vor der Einführung des Masernimpfstoffs im Jahr 1963 gab es in den USA jährlich Millionen von Fällen und Hunderte von Todesfällen. * *4:48**:* Die Einführung einer zweiten Dosis und die Impfpflicht in Schulen führten bis zum Jahr 2000 zur Eliminierung der Masern. * *5:33**:* Der Ausbruch in Philadelphia im Jahr 1990, der von einer ungeimpften Person ausging, führte zu 1400 Fällen und 9 Todesfällen und verdeutlichte die Auswirkungen der Impfverweigerung. *Ausbruch in Philadelphia und Reaktion (**5:37**):* * *5:40**:* Der Ausbruch konzentrierte sich auf zwei religiöse Gemeinschaften, die Impfungen und medizinische Versorgung ablehnten. * *7:31**:* Philadelphia führte eine Reihe von Gesetzen ein, beginnend mit der Möglichkeit, Kinder zu untersuchen, gefolgt von der Möglichkeit, sie gegen den Willen der Eltern zu hospitalisieren, und gipfelnd in der Impfpflicht. * *8:58**:* Die ACLU weigerte sich bemerkenswerterweise, die Kirchen zu vertreten, da sie das Risiko für das Leben der Kinder erkannte. * *9:51**:* Die Impfpflicht konnte den Ausbruch erfolgreich eindämmen und zeigte die Wirksamkeit solcher Maßnahmen. *Aktuelle Situation und Bedenken (**10:39**):* * *10:47**:* Die meisten US-Bundesstaaten erlauben immer noch religiöse Ausnahmen, was Bedenken hinsichtlich des Schutzes von Kindern und der Aufrechterhaltung der Herdenimmunität aufwirft. * *11:34**:* Dr. Offit stellt die Gültigkeit religiöser Ausnahmen in Frage und betont die Verantwortung für die Fürsorge von Kindern und Gemeinschaften. * *12:28**:* Er äußert Bedenken hinsichtlich zukünftiger Ausbrüche, insbesondere mit dem nahenden Winter. *麻疹卷土重来：与 Paul Offit 博士的对话* *摘要：* 在本期 Beyond the Noise 节目中，Paul Offit 博士讨论了由于疫苗接种率下降导致的美国麻疹病例的死灰复燃。他探讨了麻疹爆发的历史背景，强调了疫苗接种计划的成功和群体免疫的关键作用。Offit 博士对宗教豁免接种疫苗及其对社区健康的影响表示担忧，并以 1990 年费城麻疹爆发为例进行了说明。他强调了维护强制接种疫苗法律的重要性，以保护弱势儿童并防止未来爆发疫情。 *章节：* *麻疹复苏 (**0:00**):* * *0:00**:* 由于儿童疫苗接种率下降，美国麻疹病例正在上升。 * *0:51**:* 疫苗接种率下降的原因是家长选择不给孩子接种疫苗，通常利用宗教或哲学豁免。 * *1:22**:* 这个问题不仅仅局限于 MMR 疫苗，它影响到所有疫苗，而麻疹由于其高传染性而首先复苏。 *麻疹疫苗接种的历史 (**4:15**):* * *4:22**:* 在 1963 年麻疹疫苗问世之前，美国每年有数百万病例和数百人死亡。 * *4:48**:* 第二剂疫苗的推出和学校的强制接种要求使得麻疹在 2000 年得以消除。 * *5:33**:* 1990 年费城的疫情源于一名未接种疫苗的个人，导致 1400 例病例和 9 人死亡，突显了拒绝接种疫苗的影响。 *费城疫情和应对措施 (**5:37**):* * *5:40**:* 疫情集中在两个拒绝接种疫苗和医疗的宗教团体。 * *7:31**:* 费城实施了一系列法律，首先是允许检查儿童，然后是在必要时违背父母意愿进行住院治疗，最终强制接种疫苗。 * *8:58**:* 美国公民自由联盟 (ACLU) 拒绝代表这些教会，因为他们认识到这对儿童生命的威胁。 * *9:51**:* 强制接种疫苗成功地遏制了疫情，证明了此类措施的有效性。 *当前形势和担忧 (**10:39**):* * *10:47**:* 大多数美国州仍然允许宗教豁免，这引起了人们对保护儿童和维持群体免疫的担忧。 * *11:34**:* Offit 博士质疑宗教豁免的有效性，强调照顾儿童和社区的责任。 * *12:28**:* 他对未来爆发疫情表示担忧，尤其是在冬季即将到来之际。 i used gemini 1.5 pro Token count 5,246 / 1,048,576

[@digicat6389]

Thank you both for trying to educate people on the importance of vaccines. Unfortunately, some people don't learn until it's too late. They close their ears to science and believe conspiracy theories instead. I just wish their ignorance and idiocy didn't have to affect my family.

[@bonniespeck]

I know lots of parents who would be happy to have their children vaccinated against measles, mumps etc but absolutely won’t get the MMR vaccine. Guess what? You can’t get them separately in the United States. Why can’t we have a choice? We have choices for other vaccines.

[@AlbertMark-nb9zo]

I think it's an excuse that stems from the anti-vaxxer meme that it's too much. Too much what? I've seen kids eat dirt. Know how many different pathogens exist in dirt? By separating them out, you make it harder to be fully vaccinated. From a Finnish study 2001, "The United States, Canada, and more than 35 European countries now use MMR vaccine. Japan is the only country that recommends single measles and rubella vaccines, and there, measles is endemic and has led to epidemics. From 1992 to 1997, 79 deaths from measles occurred in Japan, whereas no deaths have occurred in the United Kingdom over the past decade"

[@sarahhoh4741]

Why do viral infections spike during specific seasons?

[@torrentialrage]

measles ❤❤

[@susanne5803]

Thank you!

[@Kindredsgirl]

This is not a measles specific question but it occurred to me while listening to this conversation: If measles is a "winter disease," how does it persist in the population through the summer? Is there a reservoir? Or does it come from overseas every year? thanks!

[@jaykanta4326]

North/South hemispheres have opposing measles seasons. Measles is endemic around the tropics/Middle East and a few other places. This is a highly technical paper that starts to cover some of it, as a starting point if you're scientific and curious: "Genetic Characterization of Measles Vaccine Strains" Bankamp, et al, 2011.

[@Kindredsgirl]

@@jaykanta4326 Thanks so much!! :D

[@Sceince007]

Also saying that it’s a winter disease does not mean no body is affected in summer it’s just that the incidence goes down , not disappear

[@gymjoedude]

Religious exemption says if you believe in a sky fairy or "make believe" you can endanger the rest of us. Off you live isolated from society then go ahead and don't get vaccinated. Living in a society requires is to do the best we can to maintain a safe, healthy society and not harm others in any way.

[@Denise-ux4xd]

Read the DESCRIPTION of the vaccine inserts 🧠⚰️💉☠️

[@Sceince007]

@@Denise-ux4xdlol can you read ? If so why are you so uneducated? Also do you think k religions should allow parents to endanger their children ?

[@user-kh5yo8mr3n]

Why? That is a fabulous question. Is there a vaccine against anti-vaxxers?

[@Denise-ux4xd]

Read the DESCRIPTION of any vaccine insert & see how smart pro-vaxxers are 🤓

[@alanrcrews]

"Make your child a martyr to your religion"

[@vincenttallarida6861]

Gimme that old-time religion!

[@WillNewcomb]

Why is measels seasonal?

[@christopherrobinson7541]

Temperature and humidity, affect the ability of the virus to survive and to be transmitted. Human behaviour, in temperate climates, when it is cold people stay inside in closer proximity than when it is warm. In warm climates, when it is hot people stay inside in air conditioned buildings, again people stay closer together. The combination of these factors results in respiratory viruses being more prevalent in the Winter. In the UK this is also happening with SARS-CoV-2.

[@WillNewcomb]

@@christopherrobinson7541 Thank you! I'm still rather mystified knowing how infectious this thing is! The seasons don't affect Covid but do Measels!!!

[@christopherrobinson7541]

@@WillNewcomb There are likely to be several effects at play. The viruses have different structures so the environmental conditions may be an important factor. The Measles virus, Measles morbillivirus (MeV), does not mutate (much). SARS-CoV-2 mutates frequently mutates resulting in new subtypes which cause waves of infection throughout the year. But as the improvement in fitness of each subtype becomes less the environmental factor becomes proportionally greater. In order to survive both viruses must infect some people throughout the year, it is just that the prevalence of measles is greater in the Winter. In the UK SARS-CoV-2 does appear to becoming more prevalent in the Winter, but in the US the trend is not so clear. Ultimately I think SARS-CoV-2 will become seasonal, like the other human coronaviruses that cause the common cold.

[@WillNewcomb]

@@christopherrobinson7541 I'll be dead by then! It could take 100 years. Anyone remember when the common cold virus was deadly???

[@PUNKMYVIDEO]

Depopulation is the name of the game. Don't take the cheese 🧀

[@DudeFun-yi7nu]

The rule of law, based in science, must override you and me, always.

[@Rene-uz3eb]

I agree that parents should not be allowed to martyr their children when they don't understand either nutritional requirements nor medical treatment. But what philadelphia first did, to require children to be examined for health and hospitalized if necessary, seems enough. That not vaccinating a child is martyrdom is an opinion.

[@JogBird]

i really dont care, i and my family are full vaxxed, if you choose not to, i dont care, yolo have fun, you be you

[@jaykanta4326]

You’re almost as antisocial as an antivaxxer

[@Denise-ux4xd]

The Mark of the Beast is in the needle, get an X-ray of your forehead & see 🤓

[@graysonric]

Denise, the beast you are looking for is in your mirror

[@Denise-ux4xd]

@@graysonric Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the Beast... A man with understanding is an oxymoron, so let me count it for you. Gibson = 666

[@jaykanta4326]

Report Denise for hate speech.

[@three.one_four]

Religion is un-religious.

[@user-br6px6ok9x]

I'm all for choice in the COVID vaccines but MMR should be mandatory....it's ridiculous

[@jaykanta4326]

So you think diseases that aren’t measles are safer?

[@StefaanNijs]

I do fear that viruses and cancers will go through society because of the mRNA. Regulators, governments and scientists need to urgently look for the reason why so many excess deaths are occurring. The elephant in the room won't leave the room.

[@christopherrobinson7541]

There are not high number of excess deaths. In the UK the latest ONS report shows that excess deaths are 11.9% below baseline. Using the old method it is about 15% below the 5 year average. The reason why the elephant in the room is not being addressed is not because it is invisible, but because it does not exist.

[@jaykanta4326]

Stop listening to anti-vaxxers. There is no massive "excess deaths" increase. There is the new COVID-as-the-cause deaths to add to past mortality levels.

[@christopherrobinson7541]

@@StefaanNijs Yes, that's what what the data says. If you have an alternative, what is it, what is the source and what is the credibility of the source. Put up or shut-up.

[@Sceince007]

lol you did not use the correct word . The real word for irrational fear is paranoia . Do obviously you are paranoid and you have given in to misinformation . Excess deaths have been looked into , every where and you will absolutely hate this ( as antivaxers always hate facts ) but the vaccinated are mostly spared both the covid and non covid excess mortality . Also like Christopher said , there are not high NON COVID excess deaths in UK

[@douglasmiller373]

Dr Offit has blamed this on the anti-vaxxers but says nothing about the millions of unvetted migrants who have arrived in the last few years. And how can Dr Offit say it’s not those millions of unvetted migrants. I respect him, but he is either ignorant or feels compelled to be politically correct.

[@wolpumba4099]

Actually, WHO data shows 83% of children globally receive at least one dose of the measles vaccine by their first birthday. While specific data on migrants is hard to find, it's likely many arrive already vaccinated due to these high global rates.

[@personzorz]

Because its not.

[@razerginn]

Quit blaming foreigners, look in the mirror, 98% of Americans are Invaders!

[@wallacegrommet9343]

Many are vaccinated, and their children are being swiftly vaccinated in community health centers and public health clinics at no cost

[@trashtrashisfree]

Sadly many South Americans are not they have to pay for shots themselves and dealing with hyperinflation.