TAMPA, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — Florida health officials are investigating a case of measles from a child they say was not vaccinated.
The Department of Health in Pinellas County said Monday it’s working to identify and notify others who may have been exposed. It’s unclear how the child contracted the virus.
Measles is a virus that is easily spread by air droplets when infected persons breathe, cough, or sneeze. The first symptoms are a high fever that may spike to 105F, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Symptoms are followed by a blotchy rash that spreads from the head to the feet.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, measles can be serious in all age groups. However, children under the age of 5 and adults over 20 years old are more likely to suffer from complications.
Severe complications include pneumonia, swelling of the brain which can lead to deafness of an intellectual disability, or even death.
After a vaccine was developed, measles was considered to have been eliminated in the United States in 2000. However, outbreaks have been more common in recent years in communities of unvaccinated children and residents.
Officials urged parents to vaccinate their children as the only way to protect against the virus.
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