Concern is raised by the Philadelphia measles epidemic as vaccination rates decline

In a Monday report on the epidemic, the city’s health department stated that 8 people in Philadelphia have been confirmed to have caught the disease.

Due to the high contagiousness of measles, medical personnel in Philadelphia are “operating to identify every person who might have been revealed, inspecting their vaccine status, alerting them that maybe have been revealed, and providing quarantine and exclusion suggestions where necessary,” according to the city’s update.

Measles vaccinations offer great protection against the virus, but vaccination rates have decreased recently due to rising anti-vaxxer beliefs.

Although 93% of children in Philadelphia have received a measles vaccination, an unvaccinated person has been involved in all 8 instances, according to a municipal health official who spoke with ABC News.