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Metro Public Health officials, community leaders urge vaccination and outreach to prevent measles outbreak
Summary
Health officials and community leaders at a Metro Public Health Department presentation emphasized vaccination, outreach to communities of color, and readiness for contact tracing as the primary defenses against measles after outbreaks elsewhere in the U.S.
Metro Public Health Department officials and community leaders urged increased vaccination and community outreach to prevent a local measles outbreak, stressing that the disease is highly contagious but vaccine-preventable.
At a public presentation hosted by the Metro Public Health Department, Dr. Shah Kaikai, medical services director and infectious disease specialist, said measles is "highly contagious" and that "9 out of 10 people that are exposed to measles will contract it." She explained that an infected person can be contagious four days before a rash develops and four days after it resolves, and that the virus can remain in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area.
Panelists said there is no cure for measles and clinical care focuses on symptom relief and monitoring for complications. "There is not a cure for measles. We just offer supportive care," Kaikai said. She and other speakers emphasized that prevention through the MMR vaccine is the safest and most effective option.
Why this matters: measles can spread…
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