Measles cases reach 15-year high

Although fewer people are dying of measles infection, the United States has seen the highest rate of measles cases in more than a decade. With international travel and falling vaccine rates both in the U.S. and abroad it’s no surprise that measles cases are on the rise.
Measles infection is caused by a virus that is very easily spread and very likely to cause infection in susceptible people. The infection itself is hallmarked by high fever (up to 105) and cough along with a characteristic rash that appears like large, irregular, red polka dots on the trunk and face at first and then spreading. Headache with measles can be severe and one of the most worrisome complications is a brain infection called encephalitis. This brain infection can cause seizures, altered consciousness, and permanent damage.
Because so few young parents today have ever seen measles in their lifetimes, the threat of this infection is not as “real” as the form of meningitis that causes quick death in children and adolescents and strikes fear in the hearts of parents when it happens close to home. In reality, measles infection is much more contagious and can be quite severe. People infected with the virus will be the most contagious before any symptoms appear and because of this the infection spreads quickly in a community of unvaccinated folks.
If parents continue to opt of vaccination, it is only a matter of time (and not a really long time) before measles will be much more familiar to us all. With the infection rate rising in the U.S. and abroad and with the mother lode of data demonstrating the safety of vaccination that parents consider closely the real risk of serious disease before forgoing vaccination.