Feb. 10--Three additional cases of measles have been confirmed in Cook County, bringing the total to nine since late January, according to health officials.
Eight of the nine cases are linked to the KinderCare Learning Center in Palatine, officials said.
Those eight cases include two adults and six infants, none of them vaccinated, according to Amy Poore, spokeswoman for the Cook County Department of Public Health.
The first confirmed case was a suburban Cook County resident who became ill in late January. Officials have only identified that person as an adult.
The ninth confirmed case involves a child from Chicago who also is linked to the Palatine day care facility, said Cristina Villarreal, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Officials are notifying people who have been exposed to the child to ensure they have been vaccinated and receive medical evaluations, Villarreal said.
"This recent case highlights the importance of vaccinations so that children are fully protected from measles. Every child should receive the two-dose MMR vaccine," Villarreal said in a statement.
On Friday, lab tests for three babies diagnosed with measles at the Palatine day care center were confirmed as positive for measles, state health officials announced Friday night. One of those cases was the Chicago child, according to city officials.
The Illinois Department of Public Health had announced earlier that five babies at KinderCare Learning Center in the north suburb had been diagnosed with the respiratory disease, but that only two cases had been confirmed with lab testing at that time.
Health officials still are investigating the source of the disease, a state health department statement said.
On Friday, a suspected case of measles in Lake County proved negative, according to Lake County health officials. There also was a reported case of measles in downstate Madison County that state health department officials later deemed to be negative, officials said.
Measles is a respiratory disease that can cause severe health complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and, in rare cases, death. The virus is transmitted by contact with an infected person through coughing or sneezing and can remain alive in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours.
Officials said the KinderCare children were all under a year old, meaning they were too young to get the vaccine that guards against measles, mumps and rubella.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that children get their first dose of the vaccine at 12 to 15 months, and a second shot at 4 to 6 years.
From the archive: Public hostile to horseless carriages
1900: 13-year-old gets license
Loading
