Measles Cases in the USA

[Mrs Twain]

All, 

We have new measles cases in the USA. This is an extremely contagious disease, and it can be very dangerous, especially to the small children who are too young to be vaccinated. 
If your children are not vaccinated against measles, now would be a good time to get that done.
(The first dose of measles vaccine is usually given to children at 12-15 months old.)

 

[bookbard]

Interesting, I was just looking at measles + covid, as a few studies suggested measles vaccine helped against covid. I also hoped that all the covid lockdowns had helped reduce measles  . . . probably true for Australia and NZ (which rarely have measles anyway), but for the places who really need it, covid has been worse because a lot of kids haven't been able to get vaccinated against measles etc, esp in places like Pakistan.

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

Ugh. I am not immune to measles despite multiple doses of the MMR vaccine. 
that’s like the last thing my life needs right now.

[Miss Tick]

I read an interesting study a few years ago that showed that measles actually erases a good portion of your body's previously acquired immunities. So that many young kids who contract measles die from subsequent reinfections of things they had previously acquired immunity to. The study only looked at young children.

[ktgrok]

I assume you are talking about the 4 cases found in Afghan refugees. This is the info I found - we are vaccinating them when they arrive, but a few people were already infected. They are being isolated, contact tracing is being done. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/09/10/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-september-10-2021/

Operation Allies Welcome flights into the United States have been temporarily paused at the request of the CDC and out of an abundance of caution because of four diagnosed cases of measles among Afghans who recently arrived in the United States. 

These individuals are being quarantined in accordance with public health guidelines, and the CDC has begun full contact tracing.  All arriving Afghans are currently required to be vaccinated for measles as a condition of entry into the United States.  And critical immunizations including MNR [MMR] are being administered for Afghans at military bases in the United States.  And we are also — MMR, sorry.  We are also exploring measures to vaccinate people while they are still overseas, so that’s something we’re looking into.  But it was, again, a step recommended by the CDC out of an abundance of caution, given four measles cases.

[Tanaqui]

It's not just measles. With the shutdown, a lot of young kids are behind on ALL their routine vaccinations, because of course if you're not going anywhere, well child visits to get preventative vaccines are just not your top priority.

If you're reading this comment and uncomfortably thinking "Well... surely it hasn't been THAT long...." then it probably has and you should make that appointment, fess up to your pediatrician, and see about getting back on schedule.

[Danae]

4 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

It's not just measles. With the shutdown, a lot of young kids are behind on ALL their routine vaccinations, because of course if you're not going anywhere, well child visits to get preventative vaccines are just not your top priority.

If you're reading this comment and uncomfortably thinking "Well... surely it hasn't been THAT long...." then it probably has and you should make that appointment, fess up to your pediatrician, and see about getting back on schedule.

True for your own health screenings too.  When I recently scheduled a mammogram they said “we haven’t seen you since [date], have you been seen somewhere else in the meantime?” I was surprised by the date.  I knew I was a little overdue, but not THAT much.

[Katy]

22 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

It's not just measles. With the shutdown, a lot of young kids are behind on ALL their routine vaccinations, because of course if you're not going anywhere, well child visits to get preventative vaccines are just not your top priority.

If you're reading this comment and uncomfortably thinking "Well... surely it hasn't been THAT long...." then it probably has and you should make that appointment, fess up to your pediatrician, and see about getting back on schedule.

It’s not that  it isn’t a priority, it’s that our pediatrician said she didn’t want to see us until this is over. 

[KSera]

37 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

If you're reading this comment and uncomfortably thinking "Well... surely it hasn't been THAT long...." then it probably has and you should make that appointment, fess up to your pediatrician, and see about getting back on schedule.

Well, I don’t think there’s anything to “fess up” about. It’s not like a moral failing or an affront to the pediatrician. It’s true it’s often been much longer than it feels like. I just recently canceled appointments for two of my kids who haven’t been since before the pandemic and they would’ve gotten a couple shots at their appointment but now will have to wait longer. Logically though I couldn’t find any way for it to make sense to put them at that kind of Covid exposure risk in order to get boosters for diseases they are WAY less likely to encounter than Covid. I made the appointments during the early summer lull, but then case rates had shot back up by the time their appointment was approaching. I will wait for things to improve and/or for them to be vaccinated against Covid before bringing them in, unless they have a medical problem that demands it before that point. I’ve had to take a different one of my kids to the pediatrician twice during this (pre Delta, fortunately), and it was definitely not a situation that seemed wise to enter right now if not needed. Very small, unventilated room for a long time with someone who has high exposure. I wish they would offer drive-through clinics for other vaccines besides Covid. They will be able to get drive-through flu shots in another month or so (which we will do, but in hindsight seemed a little bit silly last year since they don’t go anywhere due to Covid and so had no exposure. I guess it would help protect them if they have to go to the doctor for something). 

[Mrs Twain]

22 minutes ago, Katy said:

It’s not that  it isn’t a priority, it’s that our pediatrician said she didn’t want to see us until this is over. 

You should find a different periatrcian, or else find a family medicine doctor who takes care of kids!

[KSera]

1 minute ago, Mrs Twain said:

You should find a different periatrcian, or else find a family medicine doctor who takes care of kids!

I don’t understand this comment. To me this sounds like a pediatrician who is putting the kids’ health above her bottom line. There’s not a compelling reason to take healthy kids into a risky environment right now.

[mommyoffive]

27 minutes ago, Katy said:

It’s not that  it isn’t a priority, it’s that our pediatrician said she didn’t want to see us until this is over. 

That is NUTS!!

[Mrs Twain]

I just looked at the health department update for our area. We have three active cases here. The contact tracing involves multiple locations including an international airport in our area—check in areas and other parts of the airport that many people pass through. Also there is an ER on the list—there was exposure potential at that location for a significant number of hours over days. 

There is no way on earth that the health department will be able to track down all those contacts, which is why this may become a dangerous situation in a short amount of time. The USA is set up for a measles epidemic because we have so many unvaccinated kids. I am writing this as a public service announcement so we can try to head this off and save lives. ❤️

[Drama Llama]

 . . . 

Edited October 26, 2021 by BaseballandHockey

[Drama Llama]

 . . . 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by BaseballandHockey

[BusyMom5]

13 minutes ago, KSera said:

Well, I don’t think there’s anything to “fess up” about. It’s not like a moral failing or an affront to the pediatrician. It’s true it’s often been much longer than it feels like. I just recently canceled appointments for two of my kids who haven’t been since before the pandemic and they would’ve gotten a couple shots at their appointment but now will have to wait longer. Logically though I couldn’t find any way for it to make sense to put them at that kind of Covid exposure risk in order to get boosters for diseases they are WAY less likely to encounter than Covid. I made the appointments during the early summer lull, but then case rates had shot back up by the time their appointment was approaching. I will wait for things to improve and/or for them to be vaccinated against Covid before bringing them in, unless they have a medical problem that demands it before that point. I’ve had to take a different one of my kids to the pediatrician twice during this (pre Delta, fortunately), and it was definitely not a situation that seemed wise to enter right now if not needed. Very small, unventilated room for a long time with someone who has high exposure. I wish they would offer drive-through clinics for other vaccines besides Covid. They will be able to get drive-through flu shots in another month or so (which we will do, but in hindsight seemed a little bit silly last year since they don’t go anywhere due to Covid and so had no exposure. I guess it would help protect them if they have to go to the doctor for something). 

Have you called the health department?  Ours does vaccines, and if you were worried they could just come out to the car.  You do have to call and make an appointment,  and certain days they are only doing Covid clinics, but my kids have gotten vaccines there over the last year- in and out in 15 minutes!

[KSera]

1 minute ago, BusyMom5 said:

Have you called the health department?  Ours does vaccines, and if you were worried they could just come out to the car.  You do have to call and make an appointment,  and certain days they are only doing Covid clinics, but my kids have gotten vaccines there over the last year- in and out in 15 minutes!

I have not, but that’s good to know that might be an option. I’ll look again to see what it was they were due for. I only remember that I looked it up at the time and none of it was anything that I had any concern they were going to encounter. They’ve had the MMR. (And they literally don’t go inside anywhere other than our house right now. If they were attending school or other activities, the decision making would be entirely different.)

[Drama Llama]

. . . 

Edited October 26, 2021 by BaseballandHockey
grammar

[Miss Tick]

I can take my dc into the ped's office for a nurse visit to get vaccinations. These tend to be very quick in and out, less than 15 minutes face-to-face. May not work for everyone, but I wanted to mention it since not everyone knows about the possibility.

[busymama7]

I needed to take my daughter to the ped over the summer and they weren't letting anyone in who had any respiratory symptoms at all.   So no sick visits essentially.  Those were all scheduled virtually.  This is a large insurer in the city at their clinic.  Not a private doctor. I found that interesting. 

[ktgrok]

38 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

That is NUTS!!

Not if your kid is locked down, not seeing anyone in person, etc. 

37 minutes ago, Mrs Twain said:

I just looked at the health department update for our area. We have three active cases here. The contact tracing involves multiple locations including an international airport in our area—check in areas and other parts of the airport that many people pass through. Also there is an ER on the list—there was exposure potential at that location for a significant number of hours over days. 

There is no way on earth that the health department will be able to track down all those contacts, which is why this may become a dangerous situation in a short amount of time. The USA is set up for a measles epidemic because we have so many unvaccinated kids. I am writing this as a public service announcement so we can try to head this off and save lives. ❤️

Ugh, I was feeling good about DC having 96% of young children vaccinated for measels, but Virginia is only 88%. So...we will see. Hopefully you area is pretty high. 

21 minutes ago, SusanC said:

I can take my dc into the ped's office for a nurse visit to get vaccinations. These tend to be very quick in and out, less than 15 minutes face-to-face. May not work for everyone, but I wanted to mention it since not everyone knows about the possibility.

That only works if they have seen the doctor in the past year for a well visit. 

[Miss Tick]

1 minute ago, ktgrok said:

That only works if they have seen the doctor in the past year for a well visit. 

Oh, how tiresome.

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, ktgrok said:

Not if your kid is locked down, not seeing anyone in person, etc. 

Ugh, I was feeling good about DC having 96% of young children vaccinated for measels, but Virginia is only 88%. So...we will see. Hopefully you area is pretty high. 

That only works if they have seen the doctor in the past year for a well visit. 

Very true.  This is what we did last year.  Skip everything, but we had no contact with anyone.  Dh worked 100% from home.    We are not locked down tight like that anymore.  I feel like sometimes we should be.  But our mental health wasn't working the longer and longer we did that.  Plus dh has to travel for work and go into work now.  And I took it to say that the doctor was not seeing any kids.   I think if your have a high risk kid or are locked down really tight then it isn't worth the risk.  However if your entire family isn't locked down then the risks can be brought back to your kid and going and staying up to date on shots is very worthwhile.  I would hate for my kid to get sick and end up in the hospital now or not have room in the hospital so we made sure our kids got well child visits this summer.  But we did skip them last year.  Hindsight I wish we would have just gone ahead with them last year.  

Oh and I didn't know that it doesn't work if you haven't seen the doctor in the last year for a well child.  Maybe that is different doc to doc, but good to know that it could be the case. 

[ScoutTN]

42 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

Have you called the health department?  Ours does vaccines, and if you were worried they could just come out to the car.  You do have to call and make an appointment,  and certain days they are only doing Covid clinics, but my kids have gotten vaccines there over the last year- in and out in 15 minutes!

Yes, drive through vax or similar are available here for routine immunizations as well as covid vax. Our urgent care does them. CVS too. The ped calls it in.

Edited September 13, 2021 by ScoutTN

[ktgrok]

7 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Very true.  This is what we did last year.  Skip everything, but we had no contact with anyone.  Dh worked 100% from home.    We are not locked down tight like that anymore.  I feel like sometimes we should be.  But our mental health wasn't working the longer and longer we did that.  Plus dh has to travel for work and go into work now.  And I took it to say that the doctor was not seeing any kids.   I think if your have a high risk kid or are locked down really tight then it isn't worth the risk.  However if your entire family isn't locked down then the risks can be brought back to your kid and going and staying up to date on shots is very worthwhile.  I would hate for my kid to get sick and end up in the hospital now or not have room in the hospital so we made sure our kids got well child visits this summer.  But we did skip them last year.  Hindsight I wish we would have just gone ahead with them last year.  

Oh and I didn't know that it doesn't work if you haven't seen the doctor in the last year for a well child.  Maybe that is different doc to doc, but good to know that it could be the case. 

It's a liability thing - most doctors cannot prescribe anything to a patient they don't have a current doctor/patient relationship with. In most states that specified having seen them in the past year. That was the rule for vets regarding animals as well. 

[Katy]

1 hour ago, Mrs Twain said:

You should find a different periatrcian, or else find a family medicine doctor who takes care of kids!

 

1 hour ago, KSera said:

I don’t understand this comment. To me this sounds like a pediatrician who is putting the kids’ health above her bottom line. There’s not a compelling reason to take healthy kids into a risky environment right now.

 

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

That is NUTS!!

 

1 hour ago, BaseballandHockey said:

How could you possibly think that you know better than Katy's kids' doctor what's in the best interests of Katy's specific kids?  

We have a fantastic pediatrician.  We also have one kid that’s very high risk because of cardiac issues so except for one cardiologist appointment and one genetic appointment our kids haven’t needed a physician since one got a cast off in January of last year. We had shots scheduled but the ped thought it was too risky. We’re locked down pretty tight.  We’re probably tighter than 95% of the people on this board.

Our ped’s perception may be influenced by my nursing background and our history of providing foster care for medically fragile kids.  She knows I am both more aware of issues AND more careful than most people. Our chances of measles are extremely low. 

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

If you're reading this comment and uncomfortably thinking "Well... surely it hasn't been THAT long...." then it probably has and you should make that appointment, fess up to your pediatrician, and see about getting back on schedule.

 

1 hour ago, Katy said:

It’s not that  it isn’t a priority, it’s that our pediatrician said she didn’t want to see us until this is over. 

We have vaccination clinics inside Safeway supermarket and CVS pharmacy. They accept most insurance. People do bring their older kids there for immunization if they don’t want to go to their regular pediatrician. My nearby location usually doesn’t have anyone and they would text you if you don’t want to wait. 

[kbutton]

2 hours ago, SusanC said:

I read an interesting study a few years ago that showed that measles actually erases a good portion of your body's previously acquired immunities. So that many young kids who contract measles die from subsequent reinfections of things they had previously acquired immunity to. The study only looked at young children.

We've discussed that a few times here over the years. I know my own family members that had measles as a child ended up having a series of childhood illnesses all in one year, but measles came first. My mother has been described as being lucky to have survived that year, and it's not in jest. 

1 hour ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I think the calculus of whether well visits for kids, including immunizations, makes sense depends on two things. 

One if how much exposure the child has to disease in general.  If you have a kid in school or daycare, or going places indoors, or socializing with a ton of people, then the tiny added risk of getting covid, is probably worth it to prevent them from getting another vaccine preventable disease.  I'm pretty sure @Katy is shut down tight, and that shut down protects her kids from Whooping cough and Measles and other things too.  

The other is the risk of the covid virus, compared to the risk of vaccine preventable illnesses.  The calculation for a kid who at high risk of covid complications is going to be different than it would be for a kid without preexisting conditions.

 

I agree with this, but I would add that an individual pediatrician's practices surrounding Covid would factor in as well. A lot of offices are doing sick visits only at the end of the day, etc. We don't run into anyone else when we go to the pediatrician. It's somewhat that we often get an appointment just before lunch, but they also do a really good job of keeping everyone separate. Seeing our pediatrician would likely be an extremely low risk situation. 

[Katy]

2 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

 

We have vaccination clinics inside Safeway supermarket and CVS pharmacy. They accept most insurance. People do bring their older kids there for immunization if they don’t want to go to their regular pediatrician. My nearby location usually doesn’t have anyone and they would text you if you don’t want to wait. 

We’re in a rural enough area that we don’t have chain pharmacies or Safeway here.  We have Walmart.  I could call the health department and ask about shots though.  Thanks for the idea. 

[ktgrok]

29 minutes ago, kbutton said:

We've discussed that a few times here over the years. I know my own family members that had measles as a child ended up having a series of childhood illnesses all in one year, but measles came first. My mother has been described as being lucky to have survived that year, and it's not in jest. 

I agree with this, but I would add that an individual pediatrician's practices surrounding Covid would factor in as well. A lot of offices are doing sick visits only at the end of the day, etc. We don't run into anyone else when we go to the pediatrician. It's somewhat that we often get an appointment just before lunch, but they also do a really good job of keeping everyone separate. Seeing our pediatrician would likely be an extremely low risk situation. 

Covid is rampant here, and the pediatricians do Covid testing all day on sick kids, so high risk. 

[kbutton]

4 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Covid is rampant here, and the pediatricians do Covid testing all day on sick kids, so high risk. 

I get the impression around here that most doctors offices, including pediatric ones, aren't doing Covid testing--you have to go someplace else. Interesting. I wonder if that is a state-wide strategy here. While the governor and public health people lost a lot of their authority, they do still coordinate a lot of resources, including testing, to make sure that we don't have stockpiles in one area with simultaneous shortages in another area. 

[Garga]

I’m sitting in the doc’s waiting room right now waiting for a meningitis vax for my ds16. We’ve been here for 27 minutes and are still waiting. They used to be so fast—in and out. Why are we still waiting? Argh. This is the last place we want to be hanging out right now. 😞

When my son thought he had covid earlier this year, they had him sit in the parking lot to test him, but when some other friends of ours were sick with covid, the doctor had them in the office to be examined (listen to lungs, etc). So, it’s hit or miss as to whether covid patients are in the office. 

If I’d have known it would take this long, we’d have waited in the car. 

[ktgrok]

33 minutes ago, Garga said:

I’m sitting in the doc’s waiting room right now waiting for a meningitis vax for my ds16. We’ve been here for 27 minutes and are still waiting. They used to be so fast—in and out. Why are we still waiting? Argh. This is the last place we want to be hanging out right now. 😞

When my son thought he had covid earlier this year, they had him sit in the parking lot to test him, but when some other friends of ours were sick with covid, the doctor had them in the office to be examined (listen to lungs, etc). So, it’s hit or miss as to whether covid patients are in the office. 

If I’d have known it would take this long, we’d have waited in the car. 

We waited over 40 minutes last time, to see the doctor for the well visit. Then saw him, then waited another 10 minutes for nurse to come in with the vaccine. 

[KSera]

34 minutes ago, Garga said:

’m sitting in the doc’s waiting room right now waiting for a meningitis vax for my ds16. We’ve been here for 27 minutes and are still waiting. They used to be so fast—in and out. Why are we still waiting? Argh. This is the last place we want to be hanging out right now. 😞

Argh! Hope you're all done by now!

[rebcoola]

We didn't skip our appointments for our little one because I didn't want to get behind in her other vaccines.  I know I would be terrible and getting them made up.  But our doctors office doesn't see sick kids.  If they have fever, cough rash, sore throat, tummy stuff they either get a virtual visit or sent to the associated urgent care.

 

[mlktwins]

Our peds office takes well visits in the morning and early afternoon and sick patients in the late afternoon and evening.  

[mommyoffive]

4 hours ago, Katy said:

 

 

 

We have a fantastic pediatrician.  We also have one kid that’s very high risk because of cardiac issues so except for one cardiologist appointment and one genetic appointment our kids haven’t needed a physician since one got a cast off in January of last year. We had shots scheduled but the ped thought it was too risky. We’re locked down pretty tight.  We’re probably tighter than 95% of the people on this board.

Our ped’s perception may be influenced by my nursing background and our history of providing foster care for medically fragile kids.  She knows I am both more aware of issues AND more careful than most people. Our chances of measles are extremely low. 

Gotcha.  Sorry to fast judge the situation.   I took it meaning that the doc didn't want any kids to come in until it was over.  And I fully support everyone weighing their personal situation with their family and kid.  Their is so much that goes into making these choices right now.  I 100% didn't mean to say you were making the wrong choice for your family or child.  

Edited September 13, 2021 by mommyoffive