Measles: It’s Back, It’s Contagious, and You Probably Haven’t Seen It Before

In this episode, Kevin and Dr. Lisa Wolf dig into the return of a disease we thought had been eradicated in 2000. In case you missed it—we're in the middle of a national measles outbreak, and chances are high you've never actually seen a real case. Measles is back, and we need to be on high alert, as it remains one of the most contagious diseases in the world.

What happens when a patient with a suspicious rash sits in your waiting room for hours? How long does measles hang in the air? (Spoiler: it’s longer than you think.) From triage missteps to public health policies, this episode walks through how to identify, isolate, and respond to highly contagious diseases—especially when you've never seen them in real life.

We also bust the autism myth (again), talk about vaccine hesitancy, and explore what your ED should be doing to prepare right now.

Measles Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, September 6). Measles signs and symptoms. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, September 6). Photos of measles. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms/photos.html

Child Vaccination Schedule

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/child-adolescent-age.html

Vaccinations and Autism

Eggertson, L. (2010). Lancet retracts 12-year-old article linking autism to MMR vaccines. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 182(4), E199–E200. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-3179

Hviid, A., Hansen, J. V., Frisch, M., & Melbye, M. (2019). Measles, mumps, rubella vaccination and autism: A nationwide cohort study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 170(8), 513–520. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-2101

Tanne, J. H. (2002). MMR vaccine is not linked with autism, says Danish study. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 325(7373), 1134.

Immune Memory Loss & Measles

Cohen, J. (2019, May 1). How measles causes the body to ‘forget’ past infections by other microbes. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/how-measles-causes-body-forget-past-infections-other-microbes