CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Pinellas County Health Department confirmed on Thursday their first case of measles for 2019.
It adds to the almost 700 confirmed cases in 22 states so far this year, the most the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has seen in the U.S. since measles was "eliminated" in 2000.
The U.S. currently tops all other industrialized nations in terms of its number of unvaccinated children with more than 2.5 million.
With those numbers in mind, we asked Clearwater pediatrician Dr. Greg Savel a number of questions.
Q. Is it okay to take the vaccine again? If so, why?
A. You could have 100 vaccines. It would be a tremendous waste of money but it would never be dangerous.
Measles is a horrible thing. Thousands of people used to die of measles in this country and now there will be an estimated 3,000 cases of measles in this country this year.
This is a true crisis that has resulted from people deciding not to get immunizations, so when people travel to Asia and other places they bring the germs back home and people are not protected. So it is critical for everyone to take this situation very seriously and speak to his or her physician immediately to find out what should be done for their health.
Q. If you don't know your vaccination history, what should you do to prevent measles?
Everyone should probably get another MMR vaccine right now. You can order a test that shows whether you're immune.
The test can often be more expensive than the vaccine and if you don't have a physician it might be more difficult to come by. But if you have a question whether or not you have immunity to measles, mumps or rubella, it would not be the wrong thing to get another vaccine.
Q. The CDC has reported 2019 is a record-breaking year for measles outbreak. How significant is this news and what do we need to do to turn the tide against the outbreak?
It’s very significant. The year has just begun and yet we’ve already surpassed records since 1994. It’s a horrible story.
The only way to turn the tide around is for people to start immunizing their children against measles, mumps, and rubella, as is the recommendation all over the world. We must get to the point, as is in many different countries and in many states in our nation, where people have no right to opt out of the MMR vaccine for their children.
It is for the health of everyone in the population that every baby is immunized at one year of age, and if people have not been immunized for whatever reason they go to their physicians immediately to right that wrong.
To hear more from our interview with Dr. Savel, watch the video above.