IPs should be wary of measles outbreaks
IPs should be wary of measles outbreaks
CDC reports surge of cases
Increasing the possibility of hospital outbreaks via undiagnosed cases, measles infection has hit the United States at epidemic levels this year. More measles cases were reported in the first seven months of 2008 than during the same period in any year since 1996, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between Jan. 1 and July 31, 2008, 131 cases were reported to CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). At least fifteen patients, including four children younger than 15 months of age, were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. As previously reported in Hospital Infection Control & Prevention, an undiagnosed measles case can cause considerable chaos. Unless promptly isolated, once the imported case is discovered a massive follow-up must ensue to determine the immune status of patients and workers who may have been exposed. Thus, the immediate message for infection preventionists is to think measles in suspect patients and ensure their employee health colleagues have worker records of measles immunity on file.
Of the 131 patients, 112 were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Among the 112 unvaccinated U.S. residents with measles, 16 were younger than 12 months of age and too young for vaccination, and one had presumed evidence of measles immunity because the person was born before 1957. Of the 95 patients eligible for vaccination, 63 were unvaccinated because of their or their parents' philosophical or religious beliefs. The measles vaccine is safe and highly effective against the virus, the CDC emphasized.
Reports include cases from Illinois (32 cases), New York (27), Washington (19), Arizona (14), California (14), Wisconsin (7), Hawaii (5), Michigan (4), Arkansas (2), and Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, DC. with a single case.
Reference
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Update: Measles — United States, January-July 2008. MMWR 2008; 57(33); 893-896.
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