The current Measles outbreak is growing with 59 confirmed cases. The outbreak began in Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure Park, with 42 of the cases directly linked to the park. The infected range in age from 7 months to 70 years old, and 25% of them have been hospitalized.
Measles can be a potentially fatal illness and can cause pneumonia and encephalitis.
According to NPR.org vaccination status is known for 34 of the California patients. State officials have found that 28 were not vaccinated, one was partially vaccinated and five were fully vaccinated. Six of the unvaccinated were babies and too young to be vaccinated.
California state epidemiologist Dr. Gil Chavez gives some advice, “if you are not vaccinated, stay away from Disneyland,” he said. The problem is not with Disneyland itself, but any place where large numbers – including people from foreign countries – congregate.
Disneyland staff is “quite concerned” about the outbreak. Five Disneyland staff members are among the 59 cases.
Back in 2000 Measles was actually declared elimated from the United States, but that can change when an infected foreigner brings the disease in to the country, or a citizen travels abroad and brings it back with them. Unfortunately, large tourist attractions like Disneyland is the perfect storm for an outbreak to occur.
Symptoms of measles includes a fever that is usually around 105 degrees, followed by cold-like symptoms of a runny nose and coughing. The most well known symptom is the red rash that usually presents itself on the face and neck first, gradually spreading to the rest of the body.
What makes measles so contagious? The virus is spread through droplets by coughing or sneezing and stays alive on hard surfaces for up to 2 hours. California Department of Public Health recently described a case which began at a basketball game. One person was infected, and people across the court became infected “because the virus can float and hang out in the air for a long, long time.”
Chavez is urging everyone to be immunized. This outbreak comes after a steady number of parents refusing to have their children immunized. Parents using the “personal belief exemption” to refuse vaccines have doubled from 2007 to 2013.
