A child with measles traveled through Alabama earlier this month, state health officials announced today.
“Exposure of the child to others while in Alabama is thought to have been low,” the Alabama Department of Health said in a press release.
The department said it is investigating and “has learned the probable settings where the child could have exposed others.”
ADPH said the unvaccinated child traveled through the state this month and recently tested positive for the disease. The department did not provide further details about the case.
Measles is a viral respiratory illness that lives in the nose and throat mucus of infected people. About 300 measles cases have been confirmed in the current outbreak in western Texas, ADPH said in a press release.
According to the agency, a single measles case can infect up to 95 percent of unvaccinated people who are exposed, with one case expected to result in 12 to 18 additional cases.
AL.com found that more toddlers are going unvaccinated in the state, with rates dropping since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doctors in Alabama have warned against the decline in the rate of vaccination against measles, saying rates were too low to prevent outbreaks. The threshold for achieving herd immunity against measles is 95%. But the rate of vaccination in Alabama for kids under 4 was only 77% in 2024.
“We are nervous, very nervous, that we may have a measles outbreak across the country,” said David Kimberlin, co-director of UAB and Children’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, during a press conference last February. “We have been fearful for quite some time that we will start to see a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases.”
Up to 20 to 30 percent of infected people have complications from the disease, especially in children younger than 5 or adults older than 20, ADPH said. Complications can include pneumonia, brain swelling and even death.
The public health department said “this case serves as a reminder for the public to stay up to date on the measles vaccine.” ADPH recommends the following vaccine schedule:
- The first dose of the MMR vaccine is recommended for children between 12- 15 months of age and the second dose at 4-6 years of age. Two doses are over 97 percent effective in preventing measles.
- If a person has not been vaccinated and is exposed to a case of measles, one dose of MMR within 72 hours of exposure reduces the chance of getting measles.
- Infants and children, students at post-high school institutions, and healthcare staff should get two doses of MMR.
- Adults born after 1956 should get at least one dose of MMR.
- Women of childbearing age should get at least one dose of MMR before getting pregnant if they do not have records of complete vaccination.
- International travelers should be up-to-date on their MMR vaccine before traveling.