So far this year, there have been 554 reported cases of measles infections in the United States. 27 of those have been in Washington state, that’s a huge increase from last year, in which only 5 cases were reported in our state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 97 percent of
the reported measles infections have originated in other countries. 70 percent of the people who got the disease were not vaccinated, while the status of the vaccination could not be confirmed in about 20 percent. Only 10 percent of people who got measles had received at least one dose of the vaccination.
Measles can infect people of all ages. Babies only two weeks old and seniors over 65 were among the reported cases, but the largest number, 52 percent, of the people infected this year were in their 20s.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that travels through the air. It can linger in the air for hours after a cough, and can infect people even if the person carrying the disease is not around. Some of the more common symptoms of measles include rashes, coughing, pink eye, a runny nose, and a fever. Ear infections in children are also common.
The Department of Health recommends the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine for kids 12 months and older, health care workers, college students, adults born after 1956, and people traveling internationally.
For more information on measles and the vaccine go to the DOH immunization website.