by: Paul R. Benson
On January 24th, 2019, the Champaign-Urbana (C-U) Public Health District put out a Measles Alert for the Champaign-Urbana area. Measles is an airborne disease that spreads easily and can be particularly harmful to children and the elderly.
As of February 2, 2019, a second case of the Measles has been confirmed, and more people have been exposed.
“People that were exposed that are not vaccinated or have not been vaccinated are asked to watch for any signs or symptoms that might come up,” Sarah Maxwell, Wellness Coordinator at Parkland College said. “And if you think about campus, specifically the U of I, because that’s where the student was, anybody that was exposed that does not have a vaccination is asked to stay off the campus for the 21-day exposure period.”
The C-U Public Health District included a list of exposure sites with the measles alert put out by them. You can find this list in the, “Measles Precautionary Notice” email that Maxwell sent out to Parkland Students on February 1st, 2019, or by going to the C-U Public Health District website at c-uphd.org. The News Gazette put together a map based on the list, which can be found in this edition of the Prospectus. More information on the second list of exposure sites can be found in the email, Important Information: Measles Alert, that Parkland president, Tom Ramage sent out.
Maxwell mentioned that the measles contagion is still present in an area two hours after the contaminated person has left. If you have been at one of the exposure sites during the specified times or 2 hours afterwards and are feeling symptoms such as, rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red watery eyes, contact the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District at 201 W Kenyon Rd, Champaign, IL.
While unvaccinated people should be those who are most worried, there is still a very small chance of getting the disease for people who have been vaccinated.
The Center for Disease Control says, “Two doses of MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles; one dose is about 93% effective.” While those are very good odds, just like everything in life, the odds aren’t 100% certain.
“Everybody should be taking [the alert] seriously,” Maxwell said. “You can still get it even if you’re vaccinated, you just won’t have as serious of a case if anything at all. So, it is more or less people that don’t have the vaccination, not only is it more serious as an illness for them, but then they’re also more likely to spread it to other people…If we have a new case that pops up, our 21-day exposure time frame starts all the way back over. So, it can be so cyclical in a sense that you get all the way up to day 20, and then have a confirmed case and now you start all the way back over.”
Now that a second case of Measles has been reported, the exposure time has been reset. If no other case is reported between now and February 21st, then hopefully, that will be the end of the outbreak.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information published the article, The Anti-vaccination Movement: A Regression in Modern Medicine. “The decrease in vaccinations has led to recent outbreaks of diseases that were thought to be ‘eliminated’, such as measles,” the article explains. This is one of the many sources that parents should look into to really consider the risks involved in not vaccinating their children.
Hopefully, outbreaks of preventable diseases will cease to spread in the area as people take more health precautions.
