I was talking with my mom the other night about measles. When she was young, it was a common childhood illness. I asked if it seemed scary. \u201cWell, yes,\u201d she said. \u201cKids died from it \u2013 and there was nothing a mother could do to protect them.\u201d She was exactly right.<\/p>\n
Measles, a viral illness thought to be eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, is flaring up again with cases in several states. New measles infections can usually be traced back to unvaccinated travelers (Americans or foreign visitors) returning to the U.S. from areas with outbreaks. This puts any person who is not vaccinated at risk of getting measles.<\/p>\n
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It stays alive for 2 hours after an infected person leaves a room.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so contagious that if one person has it, 9 out of 10 unprotected people close to them will also become infected.<\/p>\n
Measles puts anyone not protected at risk. But this time, there\u2019s something we can\u00a0<\/em>do to protect our children. We can vaccinate them. The measles vaccine was introduced in 1963.<\/p>\n To understand why measles is so scary, let\u2019s look at the numbers<\/a>:<\/p>\n Measles generally has 2 stages.<\/p>\n Early stage Later stage An infected person is contagious from 4 days before to 4 days after the rash appears, and should be isolated at home during this time.<\/p>\n If you or your child has symptoms of measles, call your doctor. It\u2019s important to call before you come in so we can check your child\u2019s immunization status and decide if an office visit is needed. If so, your doctor\u2019s office will make special arrangements to evaluate your child without putting other patients and medical staff at risk.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no treatment or cure for measles once you get it. Most people feel better within 2 weeks after symptoms first begin.<\/p>\n But complications from measles can be severe and include pneumonia, brain swelling (encephalitis), and permanent deafness. Measles can even be deadly.<\/p>\n So prevention is the key. The vaccine is safe and very effective \u2013 2 doses provide life-long immunity for 98 percent of vaccinated people. The vaccine is given in 2 doses:<\/p>\n If your family is traveling abroad or to an area with an active outbreak, the vaccine recommendations are a little different:<\/p>\n Until the age of 6 months, a baby is protected in large part by immunity passed on from their mother in utero (if the mother was vaccinated or previously had measles). Then, as that immunity decreases, the vaccine is most effective if it\u2019s given at 12 months of age.<\/p>\n Decades of research into measles has produced clear facts about measles<\/a>. But there\u2019s one number for parents to focus on for reassurance and guidance: the number 2. Two doses of vaccine will protect your child.<\/p>\n The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:<\/strong> American Academy of Pediatrics:<\/strong> Measles, a viral illness thought to be eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, is flaring up again in several states – the measles vaccine will protect your child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[385,158,157,381,384,387,383,382,229],"class_list":["post-2204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-issues","tag-children-and-measles","tag-colds","tag-influenza","tag-measles","tag-measles-outbreak","tag-measles-symptoms","tag-measles-vaccine","tag-mmr-vaccine","tag-vaccines","ages-all-ages"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1732311429:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"_thumbnail_id":["2205"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["106"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["294"],"wpfp_favorites":["556"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1732311564"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Measles, thought to be eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, is flaring up again in several states - the measles vaccine will protect your child."],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"measles\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_wp_old_slug":["what-parents-need-to-know-about-measles"],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":["a:4:{s:6:\"origin\";s:54:\"pediatricsblog\/what-parents-need-to-know-about-measles\";s:6:\"target\";s:22:\"pediatricsblog\/measles\";s:4:\"type\";i:301;s:6:\"format\";s:5:\"plain\";}"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2204"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4789,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204\/revisions\/4789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Stages <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>Symptoms usually begin 7 to 14 days after exposure. These include:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>Three to 5 days after early symptoms appear, late stage symptoms will appear, including:<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
Resources for Parents<\/h3>\n
\nMeasles<\/a><\/p>\n
\nProtecting\u00a0Your Baby During a Measles Outbreak<\/a>
\nHow to Protect Your Children During a Measles Outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"