Measles confirmed in another county's unvaccinated children as New York outbreak spreads
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Measles has been confirmed in eight children in New York's Westchester County who seem to have been exposed to the highly contagious disease during visits to outbreak-affected Rockland County and Brooklyn, health officials said.
None of the Westchester children attend public schools or childcare programs. The children range in age from 6 months to 14 years old and six of them are siblings, health officials said. All live in northern Westchester.
The Westchester County Department of Health said it's working with the families and health care providers to identify locations where the children may have exposed others.
The children, who were not vaccinated, appear to have been exposed to measles in Rockland County and Brooklyn where there have been ongoing outbreaks, health officials said.
Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler urged parents of unvaccinated children to make it a priority for their children to receive the MMR vaccine, which covers measles, mumps and rubella.
"With the increasing number of measles cases in our surrounding area, I strongly urge all parents who have not vaccinated their children against measles to reconsider," Amler said.
"Measles is highly contagious, and nine out of 10 people who are not immune and are exposed to measles will become infected."
People can spread measles before they even know they are sick, and anyone without immunity can catch measles just by being in a room for up to two hours after a person with measles has left, health officials said.
"Measles can be a serious infection which can result in pneumonia, swelling of the brain, hearing loss and death,” Amler said.
Westchester's public health warning came amid politically charged battles over efforts to contain measles outbreaks in Rockland and Brooklyn.
The spread of measles in a portion of Brooklyn led New York City to declare a public health emergency Tuesday.
Unvaccinated people living in designated ZIP codes who may have been exposed to measles will be required to receive the vaccine to protect others from the outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Those who refuse vaccination could be fined $1,000, city officials said.
Further, city officials said the outbreak may have been fueled in part by measles parties thrown by anti-vaccination supporters.
City officials were concerned 285 cases of measles in the city, largely in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn among the Orthodox Jewish community, had been aided by so-called measles parties to purposefully expose their children to the illness to build their immunity.
In Rockland, where there were 168 cases of measles since last fall, county Executive Ed Day and Rockland's health commissioner said they are developing criteria to identify unvaccinated people who may have been exposed to measles and keep them home.
Day called the plan "a slight pivot" after a state Supreme Court judge recently froze the county's state of emergency that banned unvaccinated children from indoor public places in response to a legal challenge by a group of parents.
Measles is a viral disease that starts with fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes, and sore throat. It’s followed by a rash that spreads over the body.
Measles is highly contagious and is spread from person to person by coughing or sneezing. The infection can be serious and more severe in young infants, pregnant women and people with a weak immune system. People are at risk for getting sick up to 21 days after being exposed.
People are considered protected or immune to measles if they were born before 1957, have received two doses of measles-containing vaccine or have had a lab test confirming immunity, health officials said.
Anyone who has not been vaccinated can get the vaccine free by contacting the Westchester County Health Department.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Measles confirmed in another county's unvaccinated children as New York outbreak spreads
