HEALTH : Measles Cases Climb 2nd Year
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From Times Wire Services
NEW YORK — 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 today.
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 by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.
The average age of those catching the infectious disease has dropped from earlier years, with about 40% of 1989’s cases occurring in preschool children under 5 years of age.
