Ebola's Deadly Second Wave: Measles

Roll over Ebola: measles is the deadly new threat

Experts say Liberia and its neighbours Guinea and Sierra Leone are ripe for an outbreak that could infect hundreds of thousands, dwarfing the carnage wrought by Ebola.

Death once again stalks impoverished communities like Peace Island, a cramped spit of land surrounded by swamp where 30,000 people sought refuge behind the abandoned Ministry of Defence after Liberia's 1989-2003 civil wars.
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The west African Ebola outbreak has infected around 25,000 people. Crucially, some 852 of those cases have been healthcare workers, 492 of whom have died.

Researchers estimate that measles immunisations in the region -- typically ranging between 60 and 80 percent of children -- had fallen by 75 percent because of the Ebola crisis.

As a result, 100,000 more children could get measles, in addition to the 127,000 cases already anticipated among children who have not been vaccinated in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Researchers forecast that on top of the 7,000 measles deaths that the countries would normally anticipate, up to 16,000 additional children could die from measles thanks to Ebola-related disruptions to healthcare.

The shocking thing is that relatively intelligent (not wise, but intelligent) parents in the US are threatening to bring back third world health problems with their over blown worries about vaccination side effects.