Dr. Michael Osterholm says the virus is not the “benign disease” many think it is, and it can be very dangerous.
It’s a growing concern around the U.S. and across the world, with measles outbreaks becoming more common.
The Minnesota Department of Health reported the first Minnesota case Monday in an unvaccinated 16-month old who has now passed the highly contagious virus to a sibling. It’s the second in Minnesota.
Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Michael Osterholm, says keeping infected children quarantined is key to stopping a spread.
“So, this is a disease that you often think is a mild discomforting disease, with this terrible rash that you develop. But also, it can be very, very serious,” says Osterholm.
Osterholm even one case is a concern, and could be reason for a significant spread.
“Going forward, we have an increasing number of measles cases in this country, and this is not going to be our last experience with this measles virus,” Osterholm said. “It’s all the more reason we need to get kids vaccinated against this disease.”
Osterholm adds that the measles is not benign and every year children die from it.
Measles is among the most infectious diseases known and spreads in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It’s most common in children under 5. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and a distinctive rash.
Infection can lead to permanent physical damage such as deafness. Most deaths are due to complications like encephalitis, severe dehydration, serious breathing problems and pneumonia.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, in the current school year, only 87 percent of kindergarten students are fully vaccinated for measles. Just last year, the number of unvaccinated students jumped by 5 percent.
There have been very few cases across Minnesota over the last 25 years, with only 2022, 2017 and 2011 having anything more than a couple of cases statewide.
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in November that measles deaths globally spiked by more than 40% last year, and cases rose after vaccination levels dramatically dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, the CDC sent a warning to healthcare providers to be on the lookout for measles after being notified of 23 cases in the U.S., saying, “The increased number of measles importations seen in recent weeks is reflective of a rise in global measles cases and a growing global threat from the disease.”
“Unfortunately, measles has never been eradicated in the world,” Osterholm explains. “And the problem is that today, this very highly infectious virus spreads very easily when there are pockets of individuals not vaccinated, or previously infected who then have immunity from that.”
All states require children to have certain routine vaccines to go to public school, and often private school and day care, to prevent outbreaks of once-common childhood diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, chickenpox and polio. All provide exemptions for children who have a medical reason for avoiding the shots. Most also offer waivers for religious beliefs. Fifteen allow a waiver for any personal belief.
“And what’s happening right now is a growing number of locations where 10, 20 or 30 percent of the kids have not been vaccinated against measles,” Osterholm tells WCCO Radio. “This is accumulating the number of what we call ‘susceptibles’, people who could be infected. And once you get measles virus into a pocket of susceptible people, it spreads like wildfire.”
Last school year, vaccination waivers among kindergartners hit an all-time high: 3% in total, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. Waivers for religious or personal beliefs have been on the rise, driven by some states loosening laws, in others by vaccine misinformation and political rhetoric amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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