A sporadic burst of measles in Minnesota this summer is vexing public health officials, because they haven’t yet nailed down the sources of this highly contagious disease.
A public health investigation is ongoing to find the origins of three infections last month of children 10 and younger from Anoka, Hennepin and Ramsey counties who had no apparent connections with one another. Those three infections led to seven more infections that were reported this week among children who were siblings, cousins, friends or neighbors, said Jayne Griffith, a senior epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Health.
The state total stands at 22 measles cases so far this year, all among unvaccinated people, and a couple more are expected to be added.
The latest increase “hasn’t taken us by surprise,” Griffith said. “We have been prepared for the close contacts to become cases.”
Follow-up talks with the three infected children and their parents have unearthed details about the days before they contracted measles.
Griffith said there might be a tentative connection that could ultimately trace the origins of their infections back to children who contracted the measles in May as a result of overseas travels. That would be a relief, because the alternative is something state health officials want to avoid: community spread of measles within the state itself.
“The more you keep talking to people, it will sometimes trigger a memory” about events that could have led to measles exposure, said Griffith, adding that doctors have been placed on high alert to monitor for measles and test for the disease.
The one surefire common denominator is that all of the infected children were unvaccinated, prompting an urgent plea from M Health Fairview on Friday for parents to get their children scheduled for shots before the school year.
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Publish date : 2024-08-09 15:17:00
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