WASHINGTON -- An unusual series of five measles cases in the Washington area prompted public-health officials from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia Monday to start an awareness campaign to urge people to protect themselves from the potentially deadly disease.
Officials also planned to announce details of recent measles activity in the area, including places, dates and times when people may have been exposed to the illness as part of the recent cases.
Measles, best known for a red skin rash, is a potentially fatal, highly infectious virus that spreads through contact with an infected person sneezing or coughing. Health officials say because measles has been nearly eradicated in the U.S., having multiple cases in a short time frame is cause for concern.
World health authorities have said measles deaths have dropped significantly world-wide. But federal health officials say the disease has been resurgent in the U.S., with nearly half of those involving children whose parents refuse vaccination.
Recent cases in California, Pennsylvania, Iowa and now the Washington region show that as long as measles exists somewhere in the world, it's still a threat, said Athalia Christie, senior technical adviser with the American Red Cross and member of the Measles Initiative, a global group.
The regional awareness effort will include urging parents to make sure their children are vaccinated and information on what symptoms to look out for.
Earlier this month, health officials announced that four cases -- affecting three adults and a child -- had been reported since February in Montgomery County, Md. Officials believe the cases may have originated with an unvaccinated adult returning from abroad.
In D.C., Department of Health spokeswoman Dena Iverson said doctors confirmed Friday that a city resident also had measles. That person was treated and released from a local hospital and is no longer considered contagious, Ms. Iverson said. Officials didn't provide the person's age.
She said health officials were working to contact people who may have been exposed to that case. The last confirmed measles case in Washington was April 2008.
The D.C. case isn't related to the four cases reported in Montgomery County, said Mary Anderson of the county's health department.
"It's becoming a regional issue," Ms. Anderson said. "We want to…talk about specific exposure sites so people who've been at those places can be aware, and talk about the value of being protected against measles."
The disease is no longer endemic to the U.S., thanks to high childhood-vaccination rates, but every year cases enter the country through foreign visitors or Americans returning from abroad.
(Associated Press)
Posted by Scott W. Yates, MD, MBA, MS, FACP
