Measles Cases in U.S. Triple due to Vaccine Refusal

A federal health report has shown that the total number of measles cases reported in the United States has tripled according to the annual average.

Health officials believe this may be due to a lack of vaccine use. For instance, in 2013, there have been 175 reported cases of measles, with the typical national average of about 60 cases per year.

As homegrown measles were eliminated in the country in 2000, the disease seems to keep travelling around.

For instance, of the total 175 cases, 172 of them were patients who were infected overseas or caught the disease from someone who traveled abroad. Sources of the remaining infection, however, remain unclear at this time.

"A measles outbreak anywhere is a risk everywhere," Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC) Director Tom Frieden said, according to the Washington Post. "The steady arrival of measles in the United States is a constant reminder that deadline diseases are testing our health security every day."

This year alone, 58 measles cases were linked by the CDC to an unvaccinated 17-year-old that travelled to London, and another 23 cases in North Carolina the same year were linked to an unvaccinated resident that went on a three-month trip to India.

The CDC notes that 158,000 people die world wide every year due to measles outbreaks. To insure safety, make sure to get a vaccinated-especially if you travel often, as this can put you at a higher risk.