With seven cases of measles in Arizona to date in 2015 and up to 1,000 people possibly exposed, health officials are scrambling to prevent a bigger outbreak.
None of the Arizona cases, which stemmed from an outbreak at Disneyland, were in Southern Arizona. Nonetheless, Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Francisco Garcia is talking with health leaders in other parts of the state every day to ensure Tucsonโs case count remains at zero.
โItโs not just the cases that have been confirmed, but making sure that the contacts of those cases donโt have some sort of linkage to Pima County,โ Garcia said. โWe have not had any indication that we have a case locally. But we are watching this like a hawk.โ
Five fast facts to know about measles in Pima County:
1
Some local schools are below herd immunity for measles.
Pima County schools overall have excellent measles vaccination rates. But there are a handful of outliers. Arizona is one of 20 states in the U.S. that allows parents to file whatโs called a โpersonal beliefโ exemption to excuse their children from school vaccination requirements.
Non-medical exemptions have been increasingly popular among clusters of parents who fear vaccines more than the diseases they prevent. When not enough children in a class or school are vaccinated, thereโs no herd immunity to protect children whose immune systems are compromised.
In one extreme example, just 30 percent of kindergarteners at a private Tucson school during the 2013-14 school year were fully immunized against measles โ far below the 95 percent needed for herd immunity, state data show. County health officials are working with outlier schools on vaccine education.
2
Tucson has already experienced an expensive measles outbreak.
A 36-year-old infected Swiss tourist visited a local emergency room in 2008 and set off one of the biggest measles outbreaks in recent national history. Half of the 17 confirmed and probable cases were in children, and the economic impact of the outbreak was estimated at $800,000.
No one died of measles here, but several patients suffered complications like fever-related seizures, pneumonia, and ear infections. Three patients required hospitalization.
3
Without herd immunity, babies and people with illnesses are in danger.
Parents of children suffering from cancer or chronic illness need to be particularly mindful of vaccination rates at their childโs school. When thereโs no herd immunity against a vaccine preventable disease like measles, medically vulnerable children (and adults) are at extremely high risk.
โWe worry about children who may be vaccinated but who, for example, had a bone marrow transplant for leukemia,โ Garcia said. โOr the mom who has had chemotherapy for her breast cancer โ even though theoretically she should be protected because she had her vaccination, there may be some vulnerability there.โ
Those who suffer most are infants too young to be vaccinated, Garcia stressed.
4
An old, discredited report is still fueling fear.
A British doctor whose now-discredited work linked autism to vaccines did a great deal of damage to immunization rates worldwide, public health officials say. Former British surgeon Andrew Wakefieldโs link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism appeared in the respected medical journal The Lancet in 1998.
Although it has since been debunked and Wakefield is barred from practicing as a physician, many people still believe his study is true.
5
Pima County will vaccinate children at no cost.
Vaccines are available at all county clinics. For information: webcms.pima.gov/health/preventive_health/immunizations/
โThe most important thing that any of us can do to be protected is to be vaccinated and to make sure that the people who are around us, who can be vaccinated, also are vaccinated,โ Garcia said.
The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends one MMR dose at 12 months and the second dose at age 4 to 6 years. Most kids get it at the four-year-old visit or at school entry prior to kindergarten.
If a child is at high risk for exposure or will be traveling internationally, the doctor may give them a dose as early as six months, but they will need another dose at 12 months and again at four years. So some kids require three doses of MMR.
