Measles Outbreak Support - for Health Care Professionals
Thursday March 7, 2019
CDC urges healthcare professionals to ensure that all patients are up to date on MMR vaccine, including before international travel.
From January 1 to February 21, 2019, 159* people from 10 states (CA, CO, CT, GA, IL, NJ, NY, OR, TX, and WA) have been reported as having measles. Five outbreaks (defined as 3 or more linked cases) have been reported, in Rockland County, New York; Monroe County, New York; New York City; Washington; Texas; and Illinois. Of these outbreaks, 2 outbreaks are ongoing from 2018.
*Preliminary data reported to CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
What Should Clinicians Do?
-
Discuss the importance of MMR vaccine with parents. Listen and respond to parents’ questions. When parents have questions, it does not necessarily mean they won’t accept vaccines. Sometimes, they simply want your answers to their questions.
-
Ensure all patients are up to date on measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.
-
Children need 2 doses of MMR: one dose at 12-15 months and another dose at 4-6 years.
-
Before any international travel, infants 6-11 months need 1 dose of MMR vaccine, children 12 months and older need 2 doses separated by at least 28 days, and teenagers and adults who do not have evidence of immunity against measles need 2 doses separated by at least 28 days.
-
-
Consider measles in patients presenting with febrile rash illness and clinically compatible measles symptoms (cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis), and ask patients about recent travel internationally or to domestic venues frequented by international travelers, as well as a history of measles exposures in their communities.
-
Promptly isolate patients with suspected measles to avoid disease transmission and immediately report the suspect measles case to the health department.
-
Obtain specimens for testing from patients with suspected measles, including viral specimens for genotyping, which can help determine the source of the virus. Contact the local health department with questions about submitting specimens for testing.
For more information, including guidelines for patient evaluation, diagnosis and management, visit: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/index.html
2. Post measles buttons, banners, and links to CDC communication resources for healthcare professionals.
By posting measles buttons and banners on your website or blog, you will remind clinicians to consider measles diagnoses. They link to CDC’s measles webpage for healthcare professionals. Get these web tools here: http://www.cdc.gov/measles/resources/web-buttons.html
You can also post a link to CDC’s Provider Resources for Vaccine Conversations with Parents, which aim to strengthen communication between healthcare professionals and parents. Specific resources to highlight include:
-
Infant Immunization FAQs in English and Spanish
-
Measles fact sheet for parents in English and Spanish
3. Share information about measles with parents and the public in your office.
-
CDC has a recent article for parents about measles that you can link to from your consumer-friendly websites: http://www.cdc.gov/features/measles/
-
CDC has a full suite of resources to share with parents, including printable fact sheets, posters, and printable infographics: https://www.cdc.gov/measles/resources/parents-caregivers.html
4. Learn more about measles and encourage your members to do the same.
Below is information about measles that you can promote to other healthcare professionals:
-
View TEDMED at CDC: Measles—Making a Disease Disappear conference talk from 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mra7PNRJ_rI&feature=youtu.be
-
View a CDC Expert Commentary video on Medscape about measles: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/828508
Infomation courtesy of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services - Division of Immunization.