CLARK COUNTY — Across Ohio, there have been 77 cases of measles reported since the outbreak in mid-October, and now Clark County has its first confirmed case in over 20 years.
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“It’s a fairly large outbreak, in fact, the biggest outbreak across the country right now for measles,” Health Commissioner at Clark County Combined Health District, Charles Patterson, said. “We’re still looking at at least 77 cases already in Ohio and to put that in perspective, there have been about 100 cases of measles across the United States this year.”
The Clark County Combined Health District announced the outbreak Thursday and has traced the measles positive person to an unvaccinated child in Columbus.
“This was not a choice by the parents,” Patterson said. “The child was not old enough to get the vaccine yet.”
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72 of the 77 confirmed cases in Ohio were unvaccinated and the other five had at least one dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to a release from the Combined Health District.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children should get two doses of the MMR vaccine. The first dose should be administered when the child is 12 months to 15 months, followed by a second dose when the child is between four and six years.
“We get a 90+ percent effectiveness on that first vaccine and the second vaccine raised that up to 97% effective, so even the kids who have at least one dose really are fairly well protected,” Patterson said. “There’s no reason that we should continue to have this across the US.”
Of those 77 people with measles in Ohio, 33% of them are children who have been hospitalized.
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The release adds, measles is an extremely contagious virus, that is preventable with vaccinations.
Symptoms of measles include a high fever, cough, runny nose, and watery eyes, followed by a rash that usually spreads from the head to the rest of the body.
Even before symptoms appear, children infected with measles can spread it to others.
To get your child vaccinated, reach out to your pediatrician or contact your local health department.
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