Wastewater is now helping track measles spread around the US

CNN As measles cases rise to precipitously high levels in the US this year there s a new tool to help track the spread wastewater Wastewater surveillance rose to prominence during the Covid- pandemic as testing sewage for virus particles helped provide early warning signs of increased transmission and fill the gaps as episode reporting scaled back Now WastewaterSCAN has developed the first national wastewater monitoring project to detect measles in places where people are infected with the virus It has the possible to identify attainable cases days before an individual shows indicators or seeks care The new tool is available for use in nearly wastewater healing facilities across states At least measles cases have been informed in the US this year according to a CNN tally using input from state physical condition departments A large multistate outbreak centered in West Texas accounts for the vast majority Texas has released outbreak-associated cases New Mexico revealed cases and Oklahoma stated cases validated and three probable as of Tuesday Cases in Kansas which the state soundness department says may also be linked to the outbreak have reached as of Monday Experts say these numbers are all a severe undercount because a multitude of cases are going unreported However the nation is now fewer than cases away from the total published for all of the year with the highest number of measles cases since the infection was declared eliminated in the US in South Dakota informed its first measles circumstance of the year Monday bringing the total number of states that have informed at least one development in up to The new occurrence in South Dakota is in an adult who travelled internationally according to a news release from the state physical condition department The US Centers for Complaint Control and Prevention not long ago updated its measles guidance for travelers Travelers can catch measles in a large number of passage settings including passage hubs like airports and train stations on community transportation like airplanes and trains at tourist attractions and at large crowded events a CDC advisory says Infected travelers can bring the sickness back to their home communities where it can spread rapidly among people who are not immune CDC recommends that all travelers be fully vaccinated against measles before traveling to any international destination Other newest examples include a matter in Minnesota that was communicated in an adult who was exposed during domestic air voyage and the New Jersey vitality department has warned of anticipated measles exposure in the Newark airport There have been at least outbreaks in the US this year according to the CDC accounting for of cases The CDC s records is limited to established cases and lags behind CNN s tally for this year The vast majority of cases in the US this year have been in people who are unvaccinated only about of verified cases have been in people who had received one or two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella MMR vaccine according to the CDC Two doses of the MMR vaccine are effective against measles The CDC recommends two doses as the best protection against the affection with the first dose given at to months of age and the second between ages and Childhood vaccination rates have been declining across the US for years with MMR vaccination coverage among kindergartners falling below the recommended threshold for at least four years New research from Johns Hopkins University published Monday in the journal JAMA emphasizes how widespread the decline has been MMR vaccination rates among children have dropped in more than three-quarters of US counties with an average drop of between and according to the inquiry Vaccination rates have surged in several places that are experiencing measles outbreaks however In New Mexico nearly twice as multiple MMR vaccines have been administered this year than there were at this point last year according to input from the state robustness department And a contemporary analysis of soundness records by Truveta a health-care information and analytics company shows that early vaccination rates jumped among infants in Texas MMR vaccination rates among -month-olds in Texas this year are more than eight times higher than they were in and in March and April about in children who received their first measles shot in Texas had gotten it early before their first birthday At least people with measles have been hospitalized this year according to the CDC and there have been three deaths two children in Texas and one adult in New Mexico all of whom were unvaccinated