From Jan. 1-Feb. 6, 121 people from 17 states and Washington, D.C., were reported to have measles. Wisconsin now has two suspected cases. Eighty-five percent of these cases are part of a large, ongoing multi-state outbreak that started in an amusement park in California.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. It can spread to others through coughing and sneezing. Also, measles virus can live for up to two hours on a surface or in an airspace where the infected person coughed or sneezed. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected. Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected.

Measles typically begins with a high fever, cough, a runny nose, and red, watery eyes.

Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth.

Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash breaks out. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet. Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots. The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body. When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

After a few days, the fever subsides and the rash fades.

Measles can be prevented with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. One dose of MMR vaccine is about 93 percent effective at preventing measles if exposed to the virus, and two doses are about 97 percent effective. In the U.S., widespread use of measles vaccine has led to a greater than 99 percent reduction in measles cases compared with the pre-vaccine era.

Have you been fully vaccinated against measles? The Center for Disease Control recommends all children get two doses of MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12-15 months of age, and the second dose at four–six years of age. Adults who do not have evidence of immunity against measles should get at least one dose of MMR vaccine. Do you know your vaccination status? Check with your health care provider or you can check the Wisconsin Immunization Registry at www.dhfswir.org. Click on Public Immunization Record Access and enter your information to check if you have had the measles vaccine. 

For more information, contact health services at 796-3806 or scdanielson@viterbo.edu. (Information obtained from CDC)