The Florida Department of Health in Seminole County has confirmed one measles case in a 39 year old woman. The health department is conducting active routine surveillance to find any other potential cases. Epidemiologists are notifying any and all facilities the patient visited during her infectious period. The medical community has also been notified to consider the possibility of measles in patients with rash-like illnesses.
Cases of measles are rarely seen in the United States, but they are still common in some countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Africa. Anyone who is not protected against measles is at risk of getting infected when they travel internationally. They can bring measles to the United States and infect others. Unvaccinated people put themselves and others at risk for measles and its serious complications.
Individuals who have received their complete routine measles vaccination, including most children, or those who had measles in the past, will have immunity to this disease. Adults born after 1957 should receive at least one dose of measles vaccine unless they have already had measles or the vaccine and are immune. (This vaccine can also be given as measles mumps rubella (MMR) vaccine or measles rubella (MR) vaccine.) Those at increased risk of getting measles — college students, international travelers and healthcare workers — should receive two doses, provided they are given no less than 1 month apart.
Children should be immunized against measles with the combination MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. Children should receive two doses, with the first at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second at four to six years of age.
The symptoms of measles generally begin approximately seven to 14 days after a person is exposed to someone with measles, and include:
- Blotchy rash
- Fever
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Feeling run down, achy (malaise)
- Tiny white spots with bluish-white centers found inside the mouth (Koplik’s spots)
Measles is spread through the air by infectious droplets and is highly contagious. It can be transmitted from four days before the rash becomes visible to four days after the rash appears.
The Florida Department of Health in Seminole County provides measles and other routine vaccinations at 400 West Airport Blvd,Sanford, FL 32773. For more information, go to www.cdc.gov/measles/index.html or http://www.seminolecohealth.com/Immunizations.html
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