[conspire] San Mateo County elevated measles risk

[Rick Moen]

A month ago, _Lancet_ published 'Measles resurgence in the USA: how
international travel compounds vaccine resistance'
(https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(19)30231-2/fulltext
- free of charge, but login required), excerpt open to the Web here:
https://systems.jhu.edu/portfolio/measles/ .

The authors combined recorded vaccination rates combined with proximity to 
major international airports, to predict which 25 US counties are most at
risk for near-term measles outbreak.   San Mateo County is ranked #18
among the 25[0], primarily because of SF International Airport aka 'SFO'
(not primarily because of anti-vaxers).  All four S.M. County measles
cases so far have been directly traced to SFO.

For the few readers who've been in a cave:  The USA declaredmeasles 
eradicated nationwide in 2000, but it's been making a comeback since 2015:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles_resurgence_in_the_United_States

Like anyone with basic common sense (other than a small number of people
who can't have MMR for legitimate medical reasons), I had the MMR =
measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine much earlier in life, but retained
no records of when, and which MMR version.  So, I checked with my doc,
who then had an 'MMR titer' performed
(https://www.accesalabs.com/MMR-Titer), a cheap blood test to see if my
immune response were still positive.  It _is_, so I'm still covered
against all three diseases.[1]  Yay.

And, point is, these are all nasty and potentially fatal diseases.[2]  And
measles in particular is _highly contagious_.  You can catch measles if
a person with measles merely walked through a room and coughed or
sneezed, and then you walked through that same room a mere _two hours_ later.


You.  Yeah, you!  If you're not certain you are MMR-covered, check with
your doctor.  Please.


[0] The 25 counties, ranked starting with highest risk: 
 1. Cook County, Illinois
 2. Los Angeles County, California
 3. Miami-Dade County, Florida
 4. Queens County, New York
 5. King County, Washington
 6. Maricopa County, Arizona
 7. Broward County, Florida
 8. Clark County, Nevada
 9. Harris County, Texas
10. Honolulu County, Hawaii
11. Wayne County, Michigan
12. Tarrant County, Texas
13. Multnomah County, Oregon
14. Orange County, Florida
15. Essex County, New Jersey
16. Denver County, Colorado
17. Hillsborough County, Florida
18. San Mateo, California
19. Salt Lake County, Utah
20. Suffolk County, Massachusetts
21. Clayton County, Georgia
22. Travis County, Texas
23. Hennepin County, Minnesota
24. Loudoun County, Virginia
25. San Diego County, California


[1] Effectiveness of MMR:  97% of vaccinated people are protected
against measles, 88% against mumps, and at least 97% against rubella.


[2] See, e.g.:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measles#Complications