A devastated mother after a diagnosis of measles diagnosed at the age of 5 months: "It's terrifying"

A Californian mother urges the public to vaccinate after measles has been diagnosed in her 5-month-old son, who is too young for the vaccine.

Sara Blum told CNN that her son, Walter Blum, had a fever of 102.5 and a rash covering his entire body. She said she was shocked by the temperature and described the complete rash as "terrifying".

"Everything was on her face," she told the site. "Everything on his neck. It was really red and spotted. It was very alarming.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Walter was diagnosed with measles, an infectious viral disease characterized by rash, high fever, and red, watery eyes. Blum said she was counting on the people around Walter to get vaccinated to protect her baby's health because he was too young.

"It's really sad, but our community has kind of let us down," Blum told CNN. CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield added to CNN, "When you get vaccinated, you protect others at risk of complications."

Blum shared pictures of Walter's condition in a Facebook post in March: "There were no major complications and he's fine, but it could easily have been different."

"It could have been 100% avoided if people simply trusted doctors and scientists and vaccinated their children rather than sticking to their own opinions and doing their research on Facebook. Because of them, my little boy had to catch measles and suffer.

Walter's story is part of the country's largest disease outbreak since 1994. The CDC has reported 704 measles cases in 22 states so far this year, including more than 400 in New York.

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Symptoms of the disease include runny nose, cough, fever and red and watery eyes, according to the CDC. Red rashes appear on the face or the entire body three to five days after the onset of the first symptoms.

"Vaccination is the best way to prevent measles," writes the CDC. "Anyone who has received two doses of a vaccine containing measles is considered to be immune and very unlikely to contract measles."

The New York epidemic – the longest and longest in the country since 2000 – began when an unvaccinated child traveled to Israel, was infected and spread the disease, CNN reported, citing health officials in New York.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has declared emergency status to Brooklyn's four postcodes due to the outbreak and has threatened to impose fines on those who refuse to vaccinate their children (unless they can provide evidence of a medical exemption), reported NPR.

"We can not allow this dangerous disease to return here in New York. We must stop this now, "Blasio said at a recent press conference. "We are in a situation where children are in danger. We must take this seriously. "

Of the 704 cases of measles, 503 (71%) were not vaccinated, 76 were vaccinated with at least one of the recommended doses and 125% had unknown vaccine status, according to CNN. Twenty-five of them were less than 6 months old.