Another California child has been infected with measles \u2014 this time, in Orange County \u2014 raising questions about what parents should do to protect their children as the notoriously contagious disease continues to spread across the country. <\/p>\n
This is at least the second pediatric case of measles in the state so far this year. Authorities in San Francisco reported last month that a child under the age of 1 had been infected. Both the infants, from San Francisco and Orange County, had traveled internationally before falling ill. <\/p>\n
A case of measles also confirmed in Orange County toddler<\/a> In January. The young man had not traveled before getting infected. <\/p>\n One of the most contagious diseases known to humanity, measles can be especially dangerous for infants and young children. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles can not only cause pneumonia \u2013 the most common cause of death from the virus in young children \u2013 it can also cause brain swelling that is prone to convulsions, which could leave the child deaf or suffering from intellectual disability. <\/p>\n In infants, the measles virus can also cause a rare condition called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE\u2014when a weak form of the disease persists even after symptoms clear up. <\/p>\n SSPE infects the brain, causing mood changes and behavioral problems years later, followed by convulsions, coma, and eventually death. The risk of developing this disorder is as high as 1 in every 600 children who are infected with measles in childhood. <\/p>\n A school-age child in L.A. County who was infected with measles as a child died of SSPE, health officials said in September. <\/p>\n There is no cure for SSPE. The only way to prevent the disease is to prevent measles infection \u2013 and officials stress that the best way to do this is to get vaccinated against the disease. Officials say doing so helps protect not only those who roll up their sleeves, but also those who can’t get vaccinated, such as the youngest children.<\/p>\n For example, the child who died from SSPE in LA County was not old enough to be vaccinated at the time of his initial measles infection.<\/p>\n It is usually recommended that parents give their children the first dose of the MMR vaccine \u2014 which protects against measles, mumps and rubella \u2014 when they are 12 to 15 months old, and a second dose between 4 and 6 years of age. <\/p>\n Infants younger than 6 months cannot receive the vaccine. <\/p>\n but the cdc does recommend<\/a> If infants are traveling internationally or are at risk of exposure to measles during an outbreak, they should be vaccinated between 6 and 11 months of age. In those cases, federal health officials say the child will still need to follow the standard two-dose series afterward. <\/p>\n The CDC and the California Department of Public Health also advise everyone 12 months or more<\/a> Get two doses of measles vaccine before traveling internationally \u2013 which means young children traveling out of the country should get the second dose rather than the first. <\/p>\n The second vaccine dose can be taken 28 days after the first vaccine. <\/p>\n “For best protection, you should plan to get measles vaccination with two doses of MMR at least two weeks before departure,” the CDC said. \u201cIf your travel is less than two weeks away and you are not protected, you should still get one dose of MMR.\u201d <\/p>\n Additionally, “families with children traveling to areas with ongoing outbreaks in the United States should consult a healthcare provider about following vaccination recommendations for international travel,” California health officials. Said<\/a>. <\/p>\n Vaccinating young children early was part of Texas’ response playbook for the recent measles outbreak. Last year, Texas health officials recommended that all children ages 6 to 11 months who live in or visit counties with active outbreaks should get a shot immediately. initial vaccine dose<\/a>. <\/p>\n And for children ages 1 and older, Texas officials recommend a second shot at least 28 days after the first shot. <\/p>\n A single dose of the vaccine is 93% effective in preventing measles; A second dose increases effectiveness even further \u2013 up to 97%, according to CDC<\/a>.<\/p>\n With measles cases on the rise in the U.S. this year, it is advisable for California parents to talk to their pediatrician about getting their children vaccinated earlier than usual, even if they have no plans for international travel, according to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco. <\/p>\n “The few recent cases of measles in infants in California reflect the increased vulnerability of unvaccinated individuals, including infants in communities where MMR vaccination rates are less than 95%,” Chin-Hong said. “This increases the possibility that imported measles cases could spread locally and expose infants who are too young for routine vaccination.”<\/p>\n Recent years have seen a shocking resurgence of a disease that was considered officially eliminated in the United States for a quarter century. <\/p>\n There have been 1,814 confirmed cases of measles nationwide so far this year \u2014 including 48 cases in California. The national count is fast approaching the 2,288 cases that were recorded last year, cdc data show<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before last year, the highest national annual measles caseload in recent memory was in 1992, when 2,126 infections were recorded. The US is already rapidly approaching that figure, with 2026 still eight months away. <\/p>\n Three people have died since the measles outbreak spread across the country last year. Two were unvaccinated school-age children in Texas who had no underlying medical conditions, and the other was an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico. <\/p>\n There were only three deaths overall from measles in the US last quarter year: a 28-year-old adult who was immunocompromised. 2015<\/a>; and, in 2003<\/a>a 13-year-old immunocompromised child who recently had a bone marrow transplant and a 75-year-old infected man in Israel who suffered from measles pneumonia and brain damage.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/6e1dae9\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/690x1046+0+0\/resize\/320x485!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F72%2Fd1%2Fa89cf4844b70ae9940cc7921d58a%2Fb5f9b0c3a4824d45aad33499867fbbd2)