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Measles Outbreak among 100% Vaccinated High School Students - Illinois, 1993
Posted by vaccinesme on Monday, January, 19 2009 and filed under Articles
Key topics: Measles Outbreaks Vitamin A Vitamin C

Another measles outbreak in the vaccinated. This is from the June 22, 1984 / 33(24);349-51 MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) published by the CDC (Center for disease Control)

From December 9, 1983, to January 13, 1984, 21 cases of measles occurred in Sangamon County, Illinois.* Nine of the cases were confirmed serologically. The outbreak involved 16 high school students, all of whom had histories of measles vaccination after 15 months of age documented in their school health records. Of the five remaining cases, four occurred in unvaccinated preschool children, two of whom were under 15 months of age, and one case occurred in a previously vaccinated college student (Figure 5).

The affected high school had 276 students and was in the same building as a junior high school with 135 students. A review of health records in the high school showed that all 411 students had documentation of measles vaccination on or after the first birthday, in accordance with Illinois law.

Measles vaccination histories were obtained from the school health records of all 276 senior high school students. Risk of infection was not significantly associated with type of vaccine, medical provider, age at most recent vaccination, or revaccination. All the students with measles had received their most recent vaccinations after 15 months of age. However, the measles attack rate increased with increasing years since most recent vaccination (p = 0.024) (Table 3). The attack rate was four times greater for students vaccinated 10 or more years before the outbreak than for students vaccinated more recently (p 0.05). When these data are corrected for the number of vaccinations, the trend was still observed and achieved a borderline level of statistical significance (p = 0.07). Age at first or last vaccination was not a confounding variable.

And the editorial note to the report contains:

Editorial Note: This outbreak demonstrates that transmission of measles can occur within a school population with a documented immunization level of 100%. This level was validated during the outbreak investigation. Previous investigations of measles outbreaks among highly immunized populations have revealed risk factors such as improper storage or handling of vaccine, vaccine administered to children under 1 year of age, use of globulin with vaccine, and use of killed virus vaccine (1-5). However, these risk factors did not adequately explain the occurrence of this outbreak.

As we have said in a previous article: As Vitamin C and Vitamin A have been proven and documented to both cure and prevent measles, and are a matter of historical record, measles is and was known to be a mild and harmless illness during the 60s and 70s and parents used to arrange "measles parties" to allow their children to get measles and acquire natural lifetime immunity. In the developed world, serious complications occur at a rate of between 1 in 5000 to 1 in 15000, and these will be in children who are weak and immunosuppressed, and suffer from malnutrition. These can be successfully treated with high dosage Vitamin C and Vitamin A.

Thomas Levy MD, in his most excellent book called "Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases and Toxins" says after discussing the curability and preventability of measles by high dosage Vitamin C (p.68):

Like polio and hepatitis, measles is one more disease that is completely curable by properly dosed Vitamin C given by the proper route. Also, when adequate dosages are ingested regularly, measles can also be prevented. Other vitamin supplementation is also a good idea. Goskowitz and Eichenfeld (1993) noted that an acute Vitamin A deficiency can be seen in children with measles, usually associated with a more severe disease. However, because Vitamin C can promptly cure a fully developed case of measles, the ability to prevent an infection is not nearly so important. In fact, a valid argument can be made that contracting the disease, curing it with Vitamin C, and then attaining the resultant long-term immunity to the disease might be the most desirable way to proceed. This is especially true since adequate Vitamin C may not always be readily available and/or there may not be a doctor willing to dose it properly when the disease strikes

A final note, we often hear of measles outbreaks in the press and media, and they are used to instill fear. However, if you notice, we are rarely told how many of those contracting the disease were already vaccinated. Instead, the blame will be put on those who do not vaccinate.