GoKawiilA measles outbreak has sparked fears that the virus may entrench itself in the US after Utah saw over 600 cases lasting more than a year.
The state reached a worrying total of 679 cases, marking the latest and longest-lasting series of measles outbreaks in the US since last year as health officials panic.
State health officials have said that the belief is that the outbreak is the result of a continuous spread since at least August, the Wall Street Journal reported.
'This outbreak is the product of years of miscommunication and misinformation,' Dr Trahern Jones, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in Utah, told the outlet.
The outbreaks saw reported exposures at a high-school wrestling championship tournament in February, which exacerbated the spread across the state, as well as elementary schools, churches, an aquarium, Walmart stores, a ski resort, a youth gymnastics meet and doctors offices.
The outbreak follows data showing that measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations fell nearly ten percent over the last 13 years, according to the Journal.
Jones added that while the families of those affected were not necessarily passionate anti-vaxxers, many either did not understand the severity of the disease or believed that vaccinations would cause autism.
'You can see in a mother's eyes; the regret and the same and the embarrassment and the fear,' Jones told the outlet.
The state reached a worrying total of 679 cases, marking the latest and longest-lasting series of measles outbreaks in the US since last year as health officials panic
The outbreak follows data showing that measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations fell nearly ten percent over the last 13 years
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