U.S. measles cases are up sharply for the second year in a row, underscoring the need to extend mandatory vaccination to preschool children, a report said.
There were about 17,000 cases of measles in the country in 1989, up from 3,396 cases the year before, and the latest numbers for this year show a continued acceleration, according to the Statistical Bulletin, a quarterly magazine published Tuesday by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.The average age of those catching the infectious disease has dropped from earlier years, with about 40 percent of 1989's cases occurring in preschool children under 5 years of age, the report said.
"Through February of this year, there were over 1,600 measles cases compared with 600 at the same time last year," said Dr. Charles Arnold, MetLife Medical Director and editor of the bulletin.
He said the increases were mainly in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Milwaukee.