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Measles case confirmed in Central Iowa, health emergency declared
State health officials declared a “public health emergency” Tuesday after a test confirmed a case of measles in an unvaccinated Dallas County baby who apparently picked up the disease in India.
They said people who might have been exposed included passengers on an Americans Airline flight from Chicago to Des Moines May 11 and people who were at Mercy Medical Center or a Mercy pediatric clinic in downtown Des Moines May 14.
They said people who might have been exposed included passengers on an Americans Airline flight from Chicago to Des Moines May 11 and people who were at Mercy Medical Center or a Mercy pediatric clinic in downtown Des Moines May 14.
Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said many Americans falsely recall measles as a benign childhood illness. “I get asked by medical students, ‘Which disease are you most afraid of?' And they expect me to say Ebola or SARS or something like that – but, it’s measles,” she said. “I don’t think people understand how bad it can be, how many people can get seriously ill and, unfortunately, how many people can die from this disease. It’s bad and it’s probably the most spreadable disease we have in our society.”
The doctor said people can catch it if they pass through a room two hours after a person with the illness left. “That’s why it can just explode,” she said.
Quinlisk said the unidentified patient seemed fine when boarding a plane from India, but became ill by the end of the journey back to Iowa. The patient stayed home until May 14, then went to Mercy. She said the person, who had not been vaccinated, did not have to be hospitalized.
Dr. Asha Madia, a Mercy pediatrician, said the patient is an 8-month-old boy who had a fever, a rash and a mild eye infection. He has recovered. She said the boy was not vaccinated because such vaccinations generally are not given before age 1. But she said his family believes in vaccinations and had immunized the boy’s older sibling.
Most Iowans are either vaccinated against measles or are immune because they had it as children. Quinlisk said vaccination rates dipped a bit several years ago because of some people’s fears that the vaccine caused autism. But those fears have diminished, she said, and about 98 percent of Iowa school children have been vaccinated. She said the most vulnerable people include babies, who lose the partial immunity they gained from their mothers’ antibodies but usually aren’t vaccinated until they turn 1. She said babies 6 months or older who are traveling to a country that has measles should be vaccinated before leaving Iowa. Other susceptible people include those with chronic health problems or immune-system issues, she said.
read whole article at Desmoinesregister.com
I go to school with people from Dallas county :O
They said people who might have been exposed included passengers on an Americans Airline flight from Chicago to Des Moines May 11 and people who were at Mercy Medical Center or a Mercy pediatric clinic in downtown Des Moines May 14.
They said people who might have been exposed included passengers on an Americans Airline flight from Chicago to Des Moines May 11 and people who were at Mercy Medical Center or a Mercy pediatric clinic in downtown Des Moines May 14.
Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, medical director for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said many Americans falsely recall measles as a benign childhood illness. “I get asked by medical students, ‘Which disease are you most afraid of?' And they expect me to say Ebola or SARS or something like that – but, it’s measles,” she said. “I don’t think people understand how bad it can be, how many people can get seriously ill and, unfortunately, how many people can die from this disease. It’s bad and it’s probably the most spreadable disease we have in our society.”
The doctor said people can catch it if they pass through a room two hours after a person with the illness left. “That’s why it can just explode,” she said.
Quinlisk said the unidentified patient seemed fine when boarding a plane from India, but became ill by the end of the journey back to Iowa. The patient stayed home until May 14, then went to Mercy. She said the person, who had not been vaccinated, did not have to be hospitalized.
Dr. Asha Madia, a Mercy pediatrician, said the patient is an 8-month-old boy who had a fever, a rash and a mild eye infection. He has recovered. She said the boy was not vaccinated because such vaccinations generally are not given before age 1. But she said his family believes in vaccinations and had immunized the boy’s older sibling.
Most Iowans are either vaccinated against measles or are immune because they had it as children. Quinlisk said vaccination rates dipped a bit several years ago because of some people’s fears that the vaccine caused autism. But those fears have diminished, she said, and about 98 percent of Iowa school children have been vaccinated. She said the most vulnerable people include babies, who lose the partial immunity they gained from their mothers’ antibodies but usually aren’t vaccinated until they turn 1. She said babies 6 months or older who are traveling to a country that has measles should be vaccinated before leaving Iowa. Other susceptible people include those with chronic health problems or immune-system issues, she said.
read whole article at Desmoinesregister.com
I go to school with people from Dallas county :O
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