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The measles outbreak that led Washington Governor Jay Inslee to declare a public health emergency last month has worsened, with a dozen additional cases of highly contagious virus having been confirmed since.
The number of measles cases in the state has risen to 44, according to the Washington State Department of Health, with 43 confirmed cases and eight other suspected cases in Clark County, where 39, epidemic is mainly concentrated. Another case was confirmed in Multnomah County, Oregon last month.
According to Clark County Public Health, 37 of the confirmed cases in Clark County involved people who had not received the MMR vaccine – which prevents measles, mumps and rubella – although an infected person had received a dose rather than both recommended. Thirty-two of the confirmed cases in Clark County involve children 10 years old or younger.
Alan Melnick, Clark County Health Officer and Director of Public Health, said in his release that a single dose of measles vaccine was 93% effective, while two doses were 97% effective. However, he told the Colombian people Friday, "When you have enough cases, you can see measles in a vaccinated person."
Symptoms of measles usually take seven to 14 days to develop in those infected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first symptoms include red eyes, runny nose, cough and fever. The rash itself usually surfaces three to five days after the onset of measles and people can be contagious before and after the onset of symptoms – another reason why this outbreak is so severe. When a patient has coughed or sneezed in a given area, the virus may remain in the air for up to two hours in this space.
"Measles is a very contagious disease that can be fatal in small children," Inslee tweeted last month while he was declaring a public health emergency in the state. "Almost all unimmunized people will get measles if they are exposed to the virus."
In Oregon and Washington, policies prevent people from using the vaccine for personal reasons, resulting in unusually low vaccination rates in the region. However, public health officials say that incorrect information about vaccinations is partly responsible.
"For 25 years I know about vaccinations and the controversy surrounding them, there is information on the web and organizations say that vaccinations cause autism and that's why some parents are reluctant to get vaccinated their children, "Clark County Council Chair Eileen Quiring told the Colombian last month. Despite widespread conspiracy theories, research has shown that there is no link between them.
Health experts, including Melnick, said such an epidemic was probably inevitable in the region. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told the Washington Post that the epidemic was "something I've been predicting for a while."
[Washington State Department of Health, Associated Press]
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