Late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the number of confirmed measles infections in the U.S. has surpassed a 25-year high with 981 instances as of Monday morning. Twenty-six states have reported at least one case in 2019, including two in northeast Iowa in April and in the neighboring states of Missouri and Illinois. While the risk of measles infection is very low in west central Iowa, Carroll County Public Health Director, Marcia Schaefer, says it is a good idea to double check your immunization records to be sure.
Schaefer notes that nearly all of the U.S. cases have been reported in unvaccinated individuals. The unusually high numbers seen this year pale in comparison to statistics from before the widespread adoption of immunization protocols. According to the CDC, as many as four million Americans were diagnosed with measles on an annual basis prior to 1960. Within three weeks of exposure, patients develop high fever, cough and runny nose, and the distinctive rash appears within five days of the onset of symptoms. Schaefer says measles is always serious, but it is more dangerous for certain groups.
She adds Iowans have almost no need to worry unless they have traveled internationally or plan to travel to a location where a high number of measles cases have been reported, such as New York. According to Schaefer, the best way to prevent measles is to simply get vaccinated. The first dose is up to 95 percent effective against the virus, and a second dose pushes its efficacy to as high as 99 percent. For more information, use the contact points included with this story on our website.
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Carroll County Public Health
712-794-5408
Iowa Department of Public Health
1-800-362-2736
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
