Measles Deaths Fall to a Record Low Worldwide<br />Because measles is so contagious — one child can infect a dozen others in a classroom or at a playground, even before the telltale<br />rash appears — outbreaks in any community or school can be prevented only by pushing vaccination rates to 95 percent.<br />The decline — a public health triumph, as measles has long been a leading killer of malnourished children<br />— was accomplished by widespread donor-supported vaccination that began in the early 2000s.<br />The Disneyland measles outbreak of 2014-15 led California to pass tough new laws requiring vaccination,<br />and vaccination rates among Southern California kindergartners are now close to 98 percent.<br />In wealthy countries, deaths from measles are rare — only about one case in 5,000 is fatal.<br />The disease kills up to 6 percent of malnourished children in poor countries, the W.H.O.<br />Many developing countries that first rolled out vaccines in mass campaigns with<br />donor help are now buying their own for routine children’s immunization.
