United States: Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia (CHOP) admitted an infant last month, from where a measles cluster started to form, as it has spread to almost three other unvaccinated city residents.
Philadelphia health officials further stated that now the city has confirmed four cases of measles, while two other cases are still under consideration.
Those two unconfirmed cases are those who were exposed to an infected person when they spent time at a day-care center in violation of quarantine orders, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Cheryl Bettigole, Philadelphia Health Commissioner, said, “We are seeing cases of measles that have spread to vulnerable individuals, including young children, due to people declining vaccination and also failing to adhere to quarantine recommendations.”
The department is in touch with people who were potentially exposed to measles on the following occasions- on December 19 between 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at Jefferson Health building at 33 S. Ninth St., On December 20 and 21 at Multicultural Education Station Day Care at 6919 Castor Ave, and on December 28 at CHOP emergency department.
The Philadephia Inquirer reported that the health department is also inspecting the possible exposure at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s emergency department from the night of December 30 and midafternoon of December 31 at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children inpatient unit 5 North from December 31 and January 3, and at Nazareth Hospital emergency department on December 31 and January 2.
How did the spread occur?
The medical director of infection prevention at CHOP, Ericka Hayes, said the symptoms of measles initially present like a regular flu-like illness.
When CHOP admitted the infant with fever in mid-December, rashes started to appear after two days of admission, and on diagnosis, it was a clear case of measles.
According to experts, rashness is a characteristic of measles, which can appear four days after other symptoms begin. During the Before and after the rashes appear, the infected patient can infect others.
The measles virus stays in the air for two hours, making it very easily spread. This is why health officials require strict isolation for patients, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Hayes, the infectious disease specialist at CHOP, said, “Unfortunately, adjacent roommates were infected,” since the two hospitalized children caught the infection. Among those two, the infant was too young to be vaccinated and the other one was the child whose parents had refused to vaccinate.
The fourth and the older children among the confirmed cases also did not get vaccinated because their parents also refused medication that can prevent infection following exposure.
Hayes also said, “It is absolutely safe to come to CHOP emergency departments and CHOP medical facilities.”
Last month, health officials warned of a potential measles exposure at a Center City building with Jefferson Health offices, which health officials now say was related to the CHOP cluster.
The health department learned that a person who had been told to isolate had violated the public health requirement on Wednesday.
Measles preventive methods from the spread
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Measles is a highly infectious virus that spreads through droplets while breathing and talking or by touching infected surfaces.
The illness is especially dangerous for children under 5, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems.
An unvaccinated person exposed to measles should isolate for 21 days.
As per the Philadelphia Inquirer report, the MMR vaccine gives protection against measles, mumps, and rubella. The people who are vaccinated do not have a risk of exposure.
The health authorities are urging people who are unvaccinated and present in any of the locations identified for known or possible exposures and who are not otherwise immune to measles to come and contact their health provider as soon as possible.
That includes children under 15 months who typically have not yet had the MMR vaccine, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Why are cases on the rise now?
About 400 to 500 people died of the virus each year in the United States before the measles vaccine was invented.
The infection can lead to respiratory failure, inflammation of the brain, and death.
Hayes, the infectious disease specialist at CHOP, said, “MMR is an extraordinarily effective vaccine in preventing measles.”
The World Health Organization declared the US to have successfully eradicated measles in 2000. The number of vaccination intakes has decreased since then, which has further slowed down since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
As per the Philadelphia Inquirer, experts are worried about the outbreak of the disease, which was no longer considered a threat in the US.
In the fall of 2022, 85 children in central Ohio were sickened with measles. Of those, 80 were unvaccinated, and 36 had to be hospitalized.
As per the CDC report, 41 cases were reported nationally last year.
According to Pennsylvania’s health department data, nearly 93 percent of children who attended kindergarten in Philadelphia public and private schools last school year in Philadelphia had received at least two doses of the MMR vaccine. And the state-wise rate is 94 percent.