UTAH COUNTY — The health department confirmed six additional measles cases in Utah County on Monday.
All of the patients are under 18 and many are unvaccinated, and now doctors have some concerns heading into the holiday season.
Before getting on a plane, there is one important step doctors want Utahns to take, especially if they are traveling with young children.
“Airports collect people from all over the world, and they're an area that I worry about easy to spread germs, because you just come in contact with a lot of people from a lot of places,” said pediatrician Dr. Ellie Brownstein. "You really want to think about making sure your vaccine is up to date.”
Babies are more vulnerable, and health departments are preparing.
“Given that we've now had community spread,” Brownstein said, "the health department has encouraged us to offer giving an early vaccine to kids as early as six months.”
Brownstein said it’s important to watch babies who are too young to get the vaccine, and once you’ve landed, be on the lookout for symptoms before going to family gatherings.
“Especially the red watery eyes, that's something that's not super common with a lot of other cold symptoms,” said Aislynn Tolman-Hill with the Utah County Health Department, "then you’ll start to see a fever, usually about 101… then after that, we start to see that rash show up.”
One of the biggest concerns this year is showing up to waiting rooms unannounced.
“There are certain precautions they need to take ahead of time before you arrive. They're going to have you come through a different entrance. They're going to see you in a certain exam room because they want to limit the exposure to other people,” Hill said.
FOX 13 News asked medical experts if it ever gets frustrating seeing an increase in cases.
“Maybe a little bit,” Brownstein said. "We get a high enough percentage of the community vaccinated, then we get what we call herd immunity, meaning it's very unlikely to travel from person to person because so many of the population is vaccinated, but we are not at that level.”
Unfortunately, doctors said that may be because of misinformation online.
“What we find is a lot of hearsay,” Brownstein said. "These vaccines save lives and keep people healthy and really are safe and effective and have been used for many, many years.”
Doctors believe this is a good time to check those medical records to make sure you are vaccinated.
Measles vaccine recommendations:
- Children should receive two doses of measles vaccine: one dose at 12 to 15 months of age and another at 4 to 6 years.
- Adults born before 1957 generally do not need to be vaccinated because they are likely already immune to measles due to widespread infection and illness before the measles vaccine became available in 1963.
- Adults who were vaccinated before 1968 should have a second dose because the vaccine used from 1963–1967 was less effective than the current vaccine, which became available in 1968.
- Adults who were vaccinated in 1968 or later are considered fully protected whether they have one or two doses, though certain higher risk groups (college students, healthcare workers, international travelers) should have two doses.
You can find the most current measles data and other information on the state health department's website HERE.
