Diagnoses of measles for five children in a Chicago-area daycare prompted an investigation by the Illinois department of public health on Thursday, although the source of the infection remained unknown.
All five children were younger than 12 months old and attended the Palatine KinderCare Learning Center in Palatine, Illinois. Two unvaccinated children tested positive for measles and results were pending for the other three, who were diagnosed based on clinical criteria, Cook County officials told reporters.
Dr Terry Mason, chief medical officer for Cook County, said there were “at least 15 children” causing concern after being “potentially exposed” to the infected infants. Mason said the county’s investigation confirmed that two cases were linked to the daycare’s common room, at which point officials contacted staff there.
“We do expect that there will be more cases associated with this daycare,” said Dr Kiran Joshi, a senior medical officer for Cook County.
KinderCare spokesperson Colleen Moran said in a statement that the daycare was “excluding unvaccinated children and staff” from the center until 24 February, as instructed by health officials.
“We also gave the center a deep clean,” Moran said, and “are focused on ensuring the continued health and safety of the rest of our center.”
Mason said “there is no identified link” between the cluster to the outbreak associated with Disneyland, which has been tied to more than 100 cases around the US. Nor could officials confirm that the five sick children were linked to a case diagnosed in Cook County last week. In that case, an adult became Illinois’ first confirmed case of the disease in 2015.
The Illinois officials noted that children younger than one year old, like the five infants who have fallen ill and those who have been asked to stay home, are not old enough to receive the measles vaccination. Children can first receive the vaccination when they are 12 months or older.
The doctors recommended that anyone with measles symptoms – namely a high fever and rash – should call their physician and local health department. Dr Rachel Rubin, a senior medical officer for the county, said nine of 10 unvaccinated people will be infected, and contaminated “droplets remain active and contagious in the air and on surfaces for about two hours”.
She also asked that anyone concerned about infection “not go to the doctor’s office or emergency room without calling ahead to prevent spreading the disease to others”.
Officials pleaded for people to get vaccinated, saying the “measles vaccine is safe and highly effective and it is the best way to protect you and your family”. A recent movement of largely wealthy and well-educated parents has resisted calls to inoculate children, often claiming erroneously that vaccinations are linked to mental impairment.
Measles transmits through coughing, sneezing and contact with a sick person or with contaminated surfaces. The disease is contagious four days before a rash appears and four days afterward.
Measles and its complications, including encephalitis and blindness, were linked to 145,700 deaths worldwide in 2013. In the US the disease had largely disappeared due to widespread vaccination.
