According to a CDC report, 84% of measles cases in Chicago’s major outbreak were linked to Venezuelan migrants.

About 84 percent of fatal measles cases in a recent major outbreak at a migrant center in Chicago were linked to Venezuelan immigrants, according to a new CDC report.

New information reveals that the surge of 57 cases at the Pilsen migrant shelter can be traced to a one-year-old boy who had only received one of two essential vaccines.

The majority of cases – 72 percent – ​​involved unvaccinated people, the CDC said.

The report cites overcrowding at the center to explain the rampant spread, with 500 people reportedly crammed into a single room.

The first patient had arrived in the United States less than five months before becoming ill. He had received a dose of the MMR vaccine five weeks before his rash.

He had no recent travel history or known exposure to measles and was taken to hospital on February 27.

The Chicago Department of Public Health was notified of the case a few days later and organized a vaccination campaign for residents and staff at the shelter the next day.

Due to the highly contagious nature of measles, they considered anyone who had been inside the shelter between February 22 and 27 – the boy’s contagious period – to have been exposed to measles.

Between February 26 and May 13, 57 confirmed cases linked to the shelter were recorded, including 52 among migrants staying at the shelter and three among staff members.

The median age of infected migrants was three years old and most were from Venezuela. Four came from Peru, two from Ecuador, one from Chile and another whose country of origin was not known.

Since August 2022, approximately 41,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago, Illinois from the southern United States border.

Of these, 88 percent come from Venezuela – a country that has recently seen a decline in routine childhood immunization coverage, including the measles vaccine.

The influx of migrants comes as Chicago continues to pride itself on being a “sanctuary city,” or a place where people can seek help from city services without revealing their immigration status.

Authorities also do not ask residents whether they have the legal right to reside in the United States.

Some 30 of the 57 cases recorded at the Pilsen center concerned women and 27 men. Most patients were aged six months to four years, followed by 20 to 49 years.

The Pilsen migrant shelter is the largest in Chicago and housed about 2,100 people as of late February, with more than 500 people residing in some rooms.

Migrants themselves said illnesses were common in shelters due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

About 130 Americans have been stricken with measles this year, amid warnings that falling vaccination rates and increased immigration are making American children more vulnerable than ever to the disease.

The CDC says infants should receive their first dose of the measles vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age and their second dose between four and six years of age.

Studies show the first dose is 93 percent effective against the virus, while the second is 97 percent effective.

Vaccinated people can still get sick, doctors say, but they have a much milder infection because they are already immune.

Dr Thomas Moore, an infectious disease expert, previously told DailyMail.com: “If you want to create a public health crisis, put people in crowded spaces. »

Overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and limited access to vaccines in migrants’ countries of origin can all cause and exacerbate outbreaks in shelters, he said.

Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning the disease is no longer permanently present in the country.

Measles elimination status in the United States was threatened in 2019 due to two prolonged outbreaks among undervaccinated communities in New York.

According to the CDC, MMR vaccination coverage declined another 2% between the 2019-2021 school year and the 2022-2023 school year, meaning about a quarter of a million preschools are at risk of infection. by measles in the United States.

The rate of 93.1 percent in the 2022-2023 school year is lower than the 95 percent rate in the 2019-2020 school year, leaving measles coverage below the national goal of 95 percent for the third year in a row.