Is Measles Back?

As of March 14, 2024, a total of 58 measles infections were reported by 17 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. In the entire year of 2023, there were 58 Measles infections in the United States.  Why is this important? Measles is one of the most contagious illnesses that we know of. It is so easily spread, that for every group of 100 unvaccinated people exposed to measles, 90 will become infected. The measles virus remains in the air for 2 hours after an infected person leaves that room. So just walking through a room an infected person was in 2 hours prior, is enough to be exposed.

Measles, although once very common, has been on the decline since the introduction of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine in 1963. Before 1963, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years old.

In Lincoln County, 10% of students across all schools are not up to date with their MMR vaccine as of the 2023-2024 school year. Up to date is considered one dose of MMR vaccine for 3K and 4K students and 2 doses of MMR vaccine for those in kindergarten or older. This is a significant number of students that are at risk of becoming infected if a child with measles comes to school.

The Lincoln County Health Department would like to remind community members that the best protection against measles is the MMR vaccine. One dose is 93% effective against preventing measles infection and two doses are 97% effective against preventing infection. All children are recommended the first dose of MMR vaccine between the ages of 12-18 months and a second dose between the ages of 4-6 years old. In Lincoln County currently, 83% of all 2 year olds have their first dose of the MMR vaccine.

Measles is still very common in other parts of the world. In 2022, an estimated 136,000 people (mostly children) died of measles. “Measles is really only a plane ride away,” states Kristi Krombholz, Public Health Nurse, “this is something everyone should keep in mind during spring break and traveling with families.”  Measles symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, red runny eyes, and a rash that starts from the head then moves down the body. Complications of measles can include hospitalization, pneumonia, encephalitis (brain swelling), pregnancy complications and death.

What does this all mean for Lincoln County? As we continue to see declining vaccine rates, there becomes larger numbers of people that are able to become ill and spread measles. So is measles back? It’s too soon to say, but based on increasing number of measles illnesses and less children vaccinated, it is likely to become something that we will see in Lincoln County and not just on the news.

For more information visit https://www.cdc.gov/measles/index.html.

Last Update: 3/20/2024