(Spirit Lake)– Concern is growing as measles cases continue to increase nationwide. 1,088 cases have been reported in 33 states, including one case in Iowa that was documented just a few days ago. Katy Carey of Dickinson County Public Health offers this advice if you haven’t had the measles vaccine or you’re unsure of your vaccination status…
“So the most important thing that you can do to protect you and your loved ones against measles would be vaccination. So we have the MMR which is Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine which is with one dose 93 percent effective and with a second dose becomes 97 percent effective. We’ve seen that with the cases across the U.S. 96 percent of those people are unvaccinated, so that’s tracking right on par with what we would see. The first time you have an opportunity to get vaccinated would be at age one, so that would get you up to 93 percent covered, and then at age four is when that booster becomes available.”
Carey says boosters shouldn’t be needed for older adults who received the vaccine when they were a kid…
“For the most part unless you’re in a healthcare worker setting, you should be covered if you have that series, and then if you were born before 1957 you do have that presumptive immunity unless, of course, you’re working in more of a healthcare setting.”
Carey goes on to explain the symptoms of measles…
“The things that we see are cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, and a high fever that can go even above 104. And then of course we have the iconic rash but that usually doesn’t happen until four days after those other symptoms start. It’s important to know that people are infectious four days before the rash that starts at your hair line and goes down, and four days after the rash appears.”
She says it’s critical anyone exhibiting those symptoms NOT go out into the public and to contact their physician, adding measles is among the most highly contagious viruses out there…
“The virus can stay in the air for two hours after a person with measles leaves that area, so it’s very contagious. Nine out of 10 people who come near a person with measles that don’t have the vaccination are at risk of becoming infected.”
Anyone with questions about their immunization status for measles should contact their personal physician.
