Upcoming spring break trips will give the current measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico a chance to grow, making it particularly important for people who are behind on their shots to catch up now, Colorado’s state epidemiologist said.
“We are seeing a concerning increase in measles cases across the country, including in states neighboring Colorado,” Dr. Rachel Herlihy said in a news release. “As Coloradans prepare for spring break and travel, it’s crucial to ensure you and your family are protected against this highly contagious and serious disease.”
As of late last week, 164 people in the United States had confirmed cases of measles — more than halfway to last year’s total of 285 in just the first two months of the year.
Of those cases, 146 were in Texas. Some private schools in the area had to temporarily close because so many children were sick or quarantined, and the health department for the city of Lubbock estimated about three-quarters of its staff was working on the outbreak, according to Healthbeat.
An unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas became the first pediatric patient to die of measles in the United States since 2003. The last adult death was in 2015. Before the measles vaccine came on the market, 400 to 500 people died from the disease in an average year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles is most likely to cause complications in children younger than 5 and adults older than 20. It also can be dangerous during pregnancy, causing premature birth in some cases.
The measles virus lingers in the air and on surfaces for about two hours. Typically, if a measles patient in the contagious phase spent time in a room, nine out of 10 people without immunity who move through that room in the following hours also will get sick.
One dose of the measles vaccine reduces the odds of getting sick by about 93%, and two doses reduce it by 97%. People who survived measles also typically develop lifelong immunity.
Most people won’t need a booster shot, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Adults vaccinated before 1968 should get another shot, because the version of the vaccine used then was less effective.
If someone isn’t sure whether they were vaccinated or when it happened, they can get another shot, state health officials said.
Usually, children receive their measles shots when they’re about 1 year old and before they start kindergarten. Families who plan to take infants who are between 6 months and 1 year on an international trip should consider getting the shot early, because the virus is more common outside the United States, according to the state health department.
The CDC estimated about 88.3% of Colorado kindergarteners had their shots to prevent measles, mumps and rubella, tying the state for the sixth-lowest vaccination rate. When about 95% of the population is vaccinated, the virus has difficulty finding new hosts, and outbreaks tend to fizzle out.
Even highly vaccinated states can have vulnerable pockets, however.
In New Mexico, 95% of kindergarteners had the measles vaccine in the most recent school year, but nine people in a county bordering the epicenter of the Texas outbreak have gotten sick with the virus. Seven other states with varying vaccination rates also had a handful of cases this year.
Most of the Colorado school districts with the lowest vaccination rates are in rural parts of the state, though the Colorado Springs area also could be vulnerable. Fewer than 80% of kindergarteners in Manitou Springs School District had both doses of the measles vaccine.
Vaccination rates didn’t break down neatly along ideological lines in Colorado. Both the Boulder Valley School District and the Douglas County School District reported more than 95% of their kindergarteners had both measles shots.
About 5% of people infected so far this year nationwide had at least one dose of the vaccine. The remaining 95% includes unvaccinated people and some whose records weren’t available.
One in five people infected in the current outbreaks received hospital care.
Despite statements by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hospitals don’t provide quarantine services for measles patients — only those sick enough to need inpatient treatment get a bed. Kennedy has spread debunked claims about the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella, despite studies looking at hundreds of thousands of children that found those who received the measles vaccine were no more likely to develop autism than those who didn’t.
About one in 20 children who get measles develops pneumonia, and one in 1,000 has brain swelling that can result in hearing loss or intellectual disabilities. Kids also can become dehydrated and are vulnerable to secondary infections, because the measles virus also attacks antibodies to other diseases.
Patients who have measles can start spreading the virus about four days before the distinctive rash develops, when their symptoms look much like other respiratory diseases: a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes.
People who have those symptoms should call their health care provider before coming in, so they can take precautions to limit other people’s exposure, according to the state health department.
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