Measles outbreak in central Ohio grows to more than 50 children, driven by ‘lack

CNN
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A measles outbreak in central Ohio is growing, sickening more than 50 children, with many of them needing hospitalization, according to data updated Tuesday by Columbus Public Health.

None of the children had been fully vaccinated against measles.

Since the start of the outbreak in November, at least 58 measles cases have been identified in Columbus and Franklin, Ross and Richland counties, and there have been 22 hospitalizations, according to Columbus Public Health.

Of those cases, 55 were in unvaccinated children. The other three were only partially vaccinated, meaning they received one dose of their MMR or measles, mumps and rubella vaccine when two are needed for a person to be considered fully vaccinated.

Experts recommend that children get the vaccine in two doses: the first between 12 months and 15 months of age, and a second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is about 93% effective at preventing measles if you come into contact with the virus. Two doses are about 97% effective.

Nationwide, more than 90% of children in the US have been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella by age 2, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Measles can be very serious, especially for children under age 5,” Columbus Public Health spokesperson Kelli Newman wrote in an email Monday.

All of the Columbus cases have been in children: 12 in infants younger than 1, 28 in toddlers ages 1 to 2, 13 in children ages 3 to 5, and five in ages 6 to 17.

That corresponds to about 71% of cases being reported in 1- to 5-year-olds.

While the specifics of each hospitalized measles case can vary, “many children are hospitalized for dehydration,” Newman wrote. “Other serious complications also can include pneumonia and neurological conditions such as encephalitis. There’s no way of knowing which children will become so sick they have to be hospitalized. The safest way to protect children from measles is to make sure they are vaccinated with MMR.”

Some of the children visited a grocery store, a church and department stores in a mall while they were contagious, according to Columbus Public Health’s list of exposure sites.

Measles is a highly infectious disease that can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes or if someone comes into direct contact with or shares germs by touching contaminated objects or surfaces.

“Measles can be a severe illness and can commonly lead to complications which require hospitalization, especially in young children,” Dr. Matthew Washam, medical director of epidemiology and infection control at Nationwide Children’s in Columbus, wrote in an email Tuesday.

In the Ohio outbreak, the hospitalized children have been seen at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“Most children can usually recover at home with supportive care and can receive antibiotics for less severe complications, such as ear infections. Some children develop more severe complications, such as dehydration requiring intravenous fluids, pneumonia and/or croup which require respiratory support, or rarely more severe complications such as encephalitis,” Washam wrote.

“The mainstay of treatment for all children with measles is supportive care,” he added. “In the hospital, this can include intravenous fluids, antibiotics for secondary bacterial infections, and respiratory support amongst other supportive care measures. Some children with measles may also be treated with vitamin A given the association of lower vitamin A levels with more severe measles illness.”

The measles outbreak is “very concerning,” said Dr. Nora Colburn, an adult infectious diseases physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, who has been watching the outbreak closely along with her colleagues.

“What’s really driving this is unfortunately a lack of vaccination, which is just heartbreaking,” said Colburn, who also serves as the medical director of clinical epidemiology for the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital at the OSU Wexner Medical Center.

“For measles, it is the most infectious disease we have,” she said. “And so it is very concerning as an infectious disease physician, as also a mother of a young child and as a community member.”

During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, while most people stayed home and some health-care facilities were closed, many children missed their routine immunizations, including the MMR vaccine – and they still may not have gotten all their recommended shots. That’s true around the world as well as in the US.

“The concern now is that…