Health officials in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania have confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated child, and it’s possible to sat members of the public were exposed. Dr. Banku Jairath at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical school shared what we need to know about measles and how to stay safe.

Asia: Can you start by explaining what measles are and why it is considered such a serious illness?

Dr. Jairath: Measles is a preventable, highly contagious, and airborne virus that can cause serious health complications. It is, it's a very serious illness and is one of the most infectious viral illnesses known to mankind. So, if you have a person who's infected with the measles virus, and you put that person in a room with 100 unvaccinated people, 90 of those 100 people would get infected. Its 90 percent is the infectious rate of this virus. It was officially considered eliminated from United States in the year 2000 due to the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine, which is the best way to prevent measles and also the best way to prevent its spread.

Asia: What symptoms take place once you've contracted measles?

Dr. Jairath: The common symptoms that are seen with measles are fever, which is anything above 100 .4 degrees Fahrenheit, which can last several days. You can have cough, runny nose, watery eyes, sensitivity to light, and then later you develop a rash. You can also develop pneumonia. You can develop brain swelling or encephalitis. and then get complications from that. And a person with measles is contagious for about eight days from four days before the rash appears until four days after.

Asia:  So, like you said vaccination has been key in keeping measles cases low for years but we're also seeing a resurgence. Could you explain the importance of the vaccine and how effective it is?

Dr. Jairath: So, measles vaccine, as I said, is strongly recommended for kids from the first dose is typically given after 12 months of age. And the second dose is given anywhere between four to six years of age. The One dose gives you close to 95 % protection and two doses give you close to 97 % protection. So, it is one of the highly efficacious vaccines that we have and effective.

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