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Thanks to routine use of the MMR vaccine in children, the virus that cause measles has been mostly eradicated in the United States.
While there are still some reports of cases, they are all thought to be imported from outside the country (so it is important to continue with vaccination until it is eradicated worldwide).
Measles Symptoms
Measles causes a sometimes serious infection with measles symptoms that include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes that are very sensitive to light, irritability and a distinctive red rash that begins on the neck and travels down the body.
Another distinctive feature of measles are Koplik's spots, which are small red spots with white centers inside the mouth.
Measles Outbreaks
Although it was once thought that it would be rare for a child in the United States to ever get measles, we are actually seeing more measles cases and measles outbreaks in recent years.
In addition to lower rates of immunizations in the U.S., higher rates of measles outside the country are likely to blame for the rising rates of measles infections. After a peak to 140 cases in 2008, cases of measles seemed to decreasing again. We seem to be on track for another record year of measles in 2011 though, with the CDC already reporting almost 40 cases.
To help get us back on track to eliminating measles, it is important that:
- children routinely get vaccinated according to the latest immunization schedule with a dose of MMR at 12 to 15 months and a booster at 4 to 6 years
- children who are 6 to 11 months old get a dose of MMR before traveling out of the country
- children who are at least 12 months old get two doses of MMR separated by 28 days before traveling out of the country
- adults make sure they are fully vaccinated against measles, especially those born before 1985, who may not have had a routine booster of MMR. Keep in mind that a routine MMR booster wasn't recommended until about 1989.
- adults may also not be fully protected, and should get 2 doses of MMR, if they got the original inactivated measles shot which was given between 1963 and 1967 and was replaced by the current live version of the MMR vaccine.
Although measles is sometimes remembered as a mild illness, it is important to keep in mind that worldwide, even though measles deaths have dropped 78% because of increased vaccination efforts, there were still 164,000 deaths from measles in 2008.
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