• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, August 29, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

25 US counties identified as most at risk for measles outbreaks

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 13, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

AUSTIN, Texas — Twenty-five counties across the country have been identified to be most at risk for a measles outbreak due to low-vaccination rates compounded by a high volume of international travel, according to an analysis by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Johns Hopkins University.

Since January 2019, there have been more than 700 confirmed measles cases in 22 states — nearly double the amount of last year and the highest number reported since the virus was eradicated in the United States in 2000.

In a paper published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, researchers warn the epidemic will worsen, identifying the 25 counties that are most at risk for an outbreak. Their analysis considered an area’s volume of international travel from foreign countries with large measles outbreaks and the prevalence of nonmedical exemptions from childhood vaccinations.

“For measles, most experts believe that there will be one to two deaths per 1,000 cases, most likely infants. We are set to see over 1,000 cases in the U.S. in 2019. So, for the first time since the 1980s, we may expect infant deaths from measles in the U.S.,” said the study’s lead author, Sahotra Sarkar, a philosophy and integrative biology professor at UT Austin and an expert on public health. “We have long known that vaccine avoidance is a critical public health issue in the U.S. and Europe. Our results show how travel from regions elsewhere compounds this risk.”

Sarkar and his team’s measles risk analysis correctly predicted areas in Washington, Oregon and New York that are already experiencing major outbreaks. Furthermore, 30 of the 45 counties that have reported measles cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were either included on the researchers’ list of 25 high-risk counties or are adjacent to a county listed.

“Critically, we recommend that public health officials and policymakers prioritize monitoring the counties we identify to be at high risk that have not yet reported cases, especially those that lie adjacent to counties with ongoing outbreaks and those that house large international airports,” said Lauren Gardner, an associate professor of civil engineering at Johns Hopkins and a UT Austin engineering alumna.

Researchers warned the most at-risk areas that have yet to report a case are those near international airports, such as Travis County in Texas, Honolulu County, Salt Lake County and multiple counties in Florida. The Study showed that travel from countries such as India, China, Mexico, Japan, Ukraine, Philippines and Thailand appears to pose the greatest measles risk. The U.S. has already seen measles cases imported from Ukraine, Philippines and Thailand.

Beyond the study, researchers suggest the risk analysis be applied to other vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as mumps, rubella and pertussis, and should be used to inform public health policy in an age when nonmedical exemption rates are becoming increasingly prevalent.

“The vaccine avoidance problem is not limited to measles. Pertussis — whooping cough — is another disease making a comeback because of dropping vaccination rates, and we predict serious outbreaks in the U.S. in the near future,” Sarkar said. “Policymakers must focus on centers of vaccination refusal as well as regions with a lot of passenger inflow from affected countries worldwide if there are even small local pockets of unvaccinated people.”

###

Media Contact
Rachel Griess
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/public-affairs/news/14068
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30231-2

Tags: Medicine/HealthPublic HealthSocial/Behavioral ScienceVirology
Share12Tweet7Share2ShareShareShare1

Related Posts

Isolating a Robust Heat-Resistant Metalloprotease from Geobacillus

Isolating a Robust Heat-Resistant Metalloprotease from Geobacillus

August 29, 2025
New Insights on Breast Cancer Metastasis Biomarkers

New Insights on Breast Cancer Metastasis Biomarkers

August 29, 2025

Metabolomics Reveals Meat Quality in Dolang Sheep

August 29, 2025

Unlocking Diagnostic Markers for Myocardial Infarction

August 29, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    151 shares
    Share 60 Tweet 38
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    142 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    116 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    82 shares
    Share 33 Tweet 21

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Early Hyperglycemia Linked to Risks in Low Birth Weight Infants

Isolating a Robust Heat-Resistant Metalloprotease from Geobacillus

NEXN Prevents Vascular Calcification via SERCA2 SUMOylation

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.