Two Minnesota children contract measles after traveling outside U.S.
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Minnesota health officials say they've confirmed two cases of measles in Hennepin County.
The two pre-school children developed symptoms shortly after returning from another country where the disease is common, the state Health Department said in a news release. The children, who are siblings, were unvaccinated, and one was hospitalized due to complications.
“Measles continues to be endemic in the world,” said Cynthia Kenyon, epidemiologist supervisor with the state Health Department. “So there are countries where it's still circulating quite a bit. So whenever anyone travels or visits those countries and isn't vaccinated, they're at risk of getting measles.”
State health officials said the children were isolated once symptoms started, and efforts are underway to contact the limited number of people who may have been exposed.
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According to the Minnesota Department of Health, childhood vaccination rates statewide declined slightly during the pandemic. Recent data show that the percentage of Minnesota 2-year-olds who had received at least one dose of the MMR — measles, mumps, rubella — vaccine was 81.4 percent in 2019, then declined to 79.3 percent in 2021.
"This really means that more kids in our state are vulnerable to measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases," said Jennifer Heath, immunization education and partnerships coordinator at the Health Department. "This could have happened for many reasons. And primarily, it's probably because people's routines were so disrupted during the pandemic."
Heath says now is the perfect time for parents to get children caught up on vaccinations. While the state says the risk to the general public from measles is low, the disease is highly contagious.
“Measles is what we would consider airborne,” Kenyon said. “And if you're not protected — if you haven't been vaccinated, if you've never had measles before — just by walking into the same room as someone that has measles, you can get measles.”
Officials are notifying health care providers to be on the lookout for patients with symptoms of measles, which include high fever, cough, runny nose, and watery eyes followed by a rash, particularly now through July 1.
“The incubation period from when you're exposed to when you develop measles can be as long as 21 days,” said Kenyon, while noting that there could be more cases after that date due to high levels of travel this time of year and lower vaccination rates.
Health officials said the state has confirmed four cases of measles since Minnesota last saw a major outbreak, in 2017.