Health officials don't know if infections are related to outbreak tied to Disney theme parks in California
WebMD News from HealthDay
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Feb. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- The number of measles cases in the United States continues to climb, with Illinois health officials saying five babies who attend a suburban Chicago day care center have come down with the highly infectious childhood disease.
Laboratory tests confirmed a measles diagnosis for two of the infants, all of whom are under 1 year old. Test results for the three other babies are pending, but a measles diagnosis was made based on their symptoms, according to a joint press release from Illinois and Cook County health officials.
All students, staffers and faculty members at the KinderCare Learning Center in Palatine have been notified of the outbreak. Anyone who hasn't had the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine has been told to stay home and away from unvaccinated individuals for the next 21 days -- the incubation period for measles, the health officials said.
The source of infection or whether it's connected to the large outbreak traced to two Disney theme parks in southern California isn't known at this time, the officials said.
On Monday, federal health officials said the number of measles cases in the United States had climbed to 102, with most of the cases part of the outbreak tied to the Disney parks.
The vast majority of U.S. cases have occurred in California and they involve people who weren't vaccinated against the disease, officials said.
But cases have also been reported in 13 other states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The majority of the adults and children that are reported to us for which we have information did not get vaccinated, or don't know whether they have been vaccinated," Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at a news conference last week. "This is not a problem of the measles vaccine not working. This is a problem of the measles vaccine not being used."
source : 5 Babies at IL Day Care Diagnosed With Measles
