Just a week after San Luis Obispo Public Health officials confirmed that an adult resident of the county had measles, officials report a confirmed second case in a baby who had contact with the first, unvaccinated adult.

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

The child is reported to be to young to be vaccinated, being less than one year of age.

The baby “is currently stable and not hospitalized,” county Deputy Health Officer Dr. Christy Mulerin said Wednesday.

Measles can spread quickly to those who are not immune. Common signs and symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough, and a rash all over the body. In some persons, measles can cause serious illness such as pneumonia, encephalitis, or even death. The incubation period for developing measles is up to 21 days after exposure to someone else who has the disease.

Measles is a serious disease and can cause encephalitis, pneumonia, and even death. The outcomes are particularly serious for young children, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems. In the decade before 1963 when a vaccine became available, it is estimated three to four million people in the United States were infected annually. Each year an estimated 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and 4,000 suffered encephalitis (swelling of the brain) from measles.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children get two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, with the first dose given when the child is between 12 and 15 months old.

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