The number of confirmed measles cases reported in the Clark County, WA outbreak rose to 30 and another nine suspect cases, according to local health officials. Almost all the cases are in children.
Twenty-six of the cases were not vaccinated and the other four are unverified.
Clark County Public Health Director, Dr Alan Melnick said, “I don’t see this ending anytime soon”.
Measles symptoms begin with a high fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by a rash that usually begins at the head and spreads to the rest of the body. A person can spread the virus before they show symptoms. People are contagious with measles for up to four days before and up to four days after the rash appears.
After someone is exposed to measles, illness develops in about one to three weeks.
Immunization is the best prevention for measles. The measles vaccine is very effective. One dose of the measles vaccine is about 93 percent effective at preventing measles. Two doses are about 97 percent effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Before the measles vaccination program began in the U.S. in 1963, about 3 to 4 million people in the U.S. got measles every year. Of those, 400 to 500 people died and 48,000 were hospitalized, according to the CDC.
- Washington measles: Confirmed case in King County
- Thailand: Chikungunya, dengue and measles during the first 3 weeks of 2019
- Ukraine: More measles deaths, many more cases
- France reports Salmonella Poona cases in infants, maybe linked to powdered milk
- DRC Ebola outbreak tops 700 cases
- Mycoplasma genitalium test receives FDA okay
- Malaysia health officials battle anti-vaccine propaganda
- Enterobacter cloacae infections linked to unapproved stem cell injections in LA County
- Measles outbreak in South Korea
