Clinical Measles Advisory

Clinical Measles Alert
Please download the attached document (below) for more information. 

In the past week, five new cases of measles have been confirmed in Massachusetts, ranging in age from 16 months to 65 years. This brings the total for the year to-date to 10. One new case was a visitor from Europe and one had recently returned from Spain. Three of the new cases did not travel and were not exposed to known sick contacts. There are several suspect cases currently under investigation, all without prior travel. All of these confirmed and suspect cases have either unknown or undocumented vaccination history for measles vaccine and we are not aware of any connections between the cases. Taken together, this suggests there are unidentified cases of measles in Massachusetts.

Measles among unvaccinated young children has been recently reported as a national problem (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6013a1.htm). The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) would again like to remind clinicians of the continued risk of measles, particularly among travelers, and urge you to make sure all of your patients are appropriately vaccinated or have a documented positive titer. Maintaining high two-dose coverage with measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent outbreaks and limit them if they occur. When cases do occur, strict adherence to control recommendations is critical to prevent transmission.