State of Emergency in NYC After Extensive Measles Outbreaks

On Tuesday, April 9, Bill de Blasio, the Mayor of New York City, publicly acted in response to the 285 measles cases that have been reported since October of 2018. De Blasio has declared a public health emergency and has called for mandatory vaccinations.

De Blasio says that the emergency spans four different ZIP codes around NYC. The ZIP codes in the state of emergency include Williamsburg and Borough Park, two areas in Brooklyn.

At a news conference, de Blasio said, “we cannot allow this dangerous disease to make a comeback in New York City. We have to stop it now.” He also added that we need to take this seriously because the situation has now become endangering to the lives of children.

His order instructs that all unvaccinated children and adults that live, work, and go to school in the area must get vaccinated, unless they can prove that they have a medical exemption. Those that do not get vaccinated may face a misdemeanor charge and fines. 

Measles is a disease that can often be fatal. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] says that two doses of the MMR vaccination (which vaccinates against measles, mumps, and rubella) are about 97% effective at preventing the diseases.

The order came after a decree by the city’s Health Department that states that any yeshivas (which are Orthodox Jewish schools dedicated primarily to studying Judaism) in Williamsburg that don’t conform to the mandatory immunization law will be immediately issued a violation and fine as well as possible school closure.

The reason that these yeshivas were given their very own call-out decree is because many of the children (most of the reported cases are children under the age of 18) that have been infected are part of the Orthodox Jewish community in New York. New York has always been an American haven for Jews escaping persecution elsewhere and still has a very high Jewish population, including tight communities of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews that have lived there for years. Among these groups, people have been spreading alarming misinformation about the dangers of vaccines. 

This is not to say that there is a correlation between being Jewish and contracting measles. It is because tight religious communities that are isolated from society are more likely to experience flare ups because they build up a lack of immunity over time. Likewise, poorer countries that cannot afford to vaccinate their citizens experience bursts of diseases. Once the germs get in, they’re in, and since nobody has been immunized, everyone is at risk.

Herd immunity (which, as you may or may not know, is when most of the people living there are immune, which prevents it from ever reaching the very few that aren’t) is only achievable when 93-95 percent of the population is immune. Anything lower, and there’s a good chance that someone who isn’t immune will encounter the disease, and then it becomes a problem.

“This outbreak is being fueled by a small group of anti-vaxxers in these neighborhoods. They have been spreading dangerous misinformation based on fake science,” said Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot. “We stand with the majority of people in this community who have worked hard to protect their children and those at risk. We’ve seen a large increase in the number of people vaccinated in these neighborhoods, but as Passover approaches, we need to do all we can to ensure more people get the vaccine.”

Recent attempts at stopping the increase of this disease have proven unsuccessful. These attempts include banning unvaccinated children from entering preschools and “public places,” although it appears that more drastic measures must be taken.

The measles vaccine was created in 1963, and in 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the United States. However, people tend to travel into and out of the United States, and measles hasn’t been eliminated everywhere. This leads to cases that arise in the US after being picked up in another country, and that quickly spread to unvaccinated people that didn’t think they would ever encounter it.

According to the NYC Health Department, of the few original cases of measles, three came from Israel, two from the U.K., and one from Ukraine.

The CDC says that there have been a number of measles breakouts all over the country, including states like California, New York, and, as of last week, Maryland.

There has been one confirmed case in Maryland as of Tuesday. The Maryland Health Department warned people of Pikesville, in Baltimore, that if they visited 4000 Old Court Road between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on April 2 they should watch out for early signs of measles, which include coughing, runny nose, fever, red splotchy skin, and inflamed eyes.

The number of measles cases in the United States is nearing 500. Most of the reported cases are coming from people who have not been vaccinated or who do not know if they were vaccinated.