Four more cases of measles in Sedgwick County, Kan., were reported over the weekend, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the area to six people: four adults, two of whom were not vaccinated, and two infants who were too young to be vaccinated.
The new cases bring the total number of confirmed cases in Kansas this year to nine.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, an employee of Sal’s Japanese Steakhouse in Wichita transported the virus to the area after coming in contact with an infected person in Kansas City in June. Two other restaurant employees were later diagnosed, as was a baby who was in the restaurant.
Measles is highly contagious because it has a two-week incubation period during which those affected are contagious but don't exhibit symptoms. The virus can be spread through the air up to two hours after an infected person has left the area, according to Adrienne Byrne-Lutz of the Sedgwick County Health Department.
“It is going to spread,” she cautions.
To avoid the risk of infecting others, people who have been in contact with someone with measles should stay at home until they have received medical treatment, health officials say.
The three-month-old infant who caught the virus at Sal’s Japanese Steakhouse attended daycare at Princeton Children’s Center in Wichita. Because babies don’t get the measles vaccine until they are 12 to 15 months old, the center has temporarily closed its two infant rooms and health officials have quarantined the infants in those rooms for 21 days.
Measles symptoms include a rash all over the body accompanied by fever, coughing, runny nose and pink, watery eyes. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, about one in 10 children who contract measles will get an ear infection and as many as one in 20 can develop pneumonia.
Children should get their first measles immunization at 12-15 months of age and a booster at four to six years of age, according to the CDC.
For more information about the measles or proper immunization, follow the links provided on the CDC website.
Stefani Fontana is an intern at KCUR.