From The Weasel's Lips

Brainworm Talking

Like hell. Last prior measles death was nine yrs. ago, you lying son-of-a-bitch.

The measles vaccine prevents thousands of deaths each year worldwide. The number of measles deaths began decreasing before the vaccine was introduced thanks to advances in health care that improved treatment after people got sick (such as treating pneumonia that occurred because of measles infection).

But serious illness and death from measles still happened regularly.

In fact, in the 10 years before the vaccine was available in 1963, about 500 measles-related deaths were reported to CDC every year. Since the vaccine, U.S. measles-related deaths have been increasingly rare — because the vaccine has prevented people from getting measles in the first place. The most recent U. S. death occurred in 2015. Worldwide, there was an 84% decrease in measles deaths between 2000 and 2016 as the vaccine became more widely available — meaning more than 20 million deaths were prevented.

Other than death, measles causes serious illness and leads to hospitalization for 1 in 5 who become sick. That’s why it’s important to look at the reduction in measles illness overall, which plummeted after the vaccine was introduced in 1963 — from about 500,000 reported cases yearly (most weren’t reported, so the actual number is likely much higher) to 63 reported cases in 2010. Recently, those numbers have been increasing due to local outbreaks.