New York has measles. Tourism is doing well

Public emergency declared in New York for measles outbreak. The world’s major health agencies are alarmed by measles epidemics around the world. Lately, it was the city of New York that was affected. Let’s take a look at the tourism side…

Large international agencies are on the warpath

UNICEF, in particular, raised an alarm about the increase in measles worldwide, pointing out that ten countries, including Brazil, Ukraine and France, were responsible for about three-quarters of the total increase in cases in 2018. Globally, 98 countries reported more measles cases in 2018 than in 2017, which hinders progress in the fight against this highly preventable but potentially fatal disease, notes the United Nations Children’s Agency (UN) in a statement.

A beginning of an epidemic in New York last October

The epidemic broke out in October 2018 and since then, 285 cases have been reported in the city, most of them in the last two months. Of these, 246 are children and 39 are adults.
Although there were no deaths associated with the disease, there were complications: 21 hospitalizations and five admissions to the intensive care unit.

The Public Health Emergency in New York

New York reports  » the public health emergency  » in response to the measles epidemic that has been affecting Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish communities since last October.

The emergency situation forces unvaccinated residents of the Williamsburg district, where the largest Jewish population is concentrated, to be vaccinated in order to protect the rest of the community and help reduce the epidemic.

Fine for offenders

A check of vaccination cards is carried out for anyone who has been in contact with infected patients.

Thus, anyone who has been exposed to measles should be vaccinated, otherwise a fine of $1,000 should be imposed.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said,  » There is no doubt that vaccines are safe, effective and life-saving. I urge everyone, especially those living in the affected areas, to get vaccinated to protect their children, families and communities.   »

The Orthodox Jewish community is not alone in refusing vaccination

The resurgence of measles in New York is not unique to the Orthodox Jewish community. In several other regions of the world, there is a mistrust of vaccination, which is widely reported on social networks. In particular, it shows a supposed relationship between the measles vaccine and the risk of autism! This is a widely refuted assumption by scientists.

Alarm in Japan

At the end of March, all alarms were triggered in Japan after one of the Cathay Pacific pilots made seven flights for four days suffering from measles.

The captain received medical treatment after travelling to Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as Bangkok and Manila.

It should be noted that Japan had experienced one of the worst measles epidemics in five years. Of the 20 cases detected, five were airport and airline staff.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority has therefore created an additional vaccination post for airport staff.
It is therefore better to talk to travellers travelling to these destinations!

Serge Fabre