When Was the Last Measles Death in the United States?
How many measles deaths have there been in the United States in the past ten years? Dr. Bob Sears has frequently said that there have been none.
Measles Deaths in the United States
Measles deaths are thought to occur in about 1 in every 500 to 1,000 reported cases. This is not just in developing countries or in people with chronic medical conditions.
Consider that in an outbreak in the United States from 1989 to 1991, amid 55,622 cases, there were 123 deaths.
More recently, measles cases and measles deaths in the United States include:
2000 – 86 cases – 1 measles death (infant) – endemic spread of measles eliminated in U.S.
2001 – 116 cases – 1 measles death
2002 – 44 cases
2003 – 55 cases – 1 measles death (1 year old)
2004 – 37 cases – record low number of measles cases
2005 – 66 cases – 1 measles death (1 year old)
2006 – 55 cases
2007 – 43 cases
2008 – 140 cases
2009 – 71 cases – 2 measles deaths
2010 – 63 cases – 2 measles deaths
2011 – 220 cases
2012 – 55 cases – 2 measles deaths
2013 – 187 cases (large outbreak in New York City – 58 cases)
2014 – 667 cases (the worst year for measles since 1994, including the largest single outbreak since the endemic spread of measles was eliminated – 377 cases in Ohio)
2015 – 188 cases – got off to a strong start with a big outbreak in California – 1 measles death
2016 – 86 cases
2017 – 120 cases
2018 – 372
So that’s 11 measles deaths since 2000 and at least 8 measles deaths since 2005.
The last death, a woman in Clallam County in Washington, was exposed in an outbreak of mostly unvaccinated people in 2015.
Why do people say that there have been no measles deaths in the United States in the past 10 years? Whether they are misinformed or intentionally trying to misinform people, they are wrong.
The Last Verifiable Measles Death in the United States
The CDC is actually contributing a bit to the confusion over measles deaths, in that when asked, they have historically said that “the last verifiable death in the United States from acute measles infection occurred in 2003 when there were 2 reported deaths.”
They explain the discrepancy between that statement and other CDC reports, like the recently published “Summary of Notifiable Diseases — United States, 2012,” which clearly documents measles deaths in 2005, 2009, and 2010, by saying that those reports are based on “statistical information about deaths in the United States.”
But that statistical information comes from death certificates that are sent in from all over the United States to the National Vital Statistics System. The system isn’t like VAERS, where just anyone can send in a report. You don’t necessarily have to be a doctor to sign and file a death certificate though either, which is why the CDC is probably hung up on saying that the last verifiable measles deaths were in 2003.
To be more precise when talking about measles deaths in the United States, since it doesn’t seem like the CDC has verified each and every measles death after 2003, it is likely best to say that death certificates have been filed in 2005, 2009 (2), 2010 (2), and 2012 (2) that listed measles as a cause of death code.
Of course, that still means that there have been measles deaths in the United States since 2003, especially now that the CDC actually states that “the last measles death in the United States occurred in 2015.”
moar: https://vaxopedia.org/2018/04/15/when-was-the-last-measles-death-in-the-united-states/