Minnesota Health Officials Warn Of Highly Infectious Outbreak

The Minnesota Department of Health is urging people to get vaccinated against Measles. Measles is highly infectious, and it typically leads to a third of children who get it needing hospitalization.

Health officials now are urging families to be up to date on their measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines as the measles outbreak continues to affect unvaccinated children in Minnesota.

Since May 30, there have been 30 cases reported in Minnesota. The first cases started to show up in May and June, but the surge happened at the end of July.

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Dr. Ruth Lynfield, the state epidemiologist says that measles infections can be severe.

“I urge all parents to be sure that their children are vaccinated because we know that vaccination offers the best protection.”

Most of the infections occur in unvaccinated children.

The cases of those infected range from 7 months old to 10 years. One adult in Minnesota has also been infected. The outbreak is largely affecting unvaccinated children in the Somali community.

Unvaccinated people exposed need to quarantine for 3 weeks.

The MDH says those people who are unvaccinated and exposed to the virus need to quarantine for 21 days, whether they show symptoms or not.

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Vaccine misinformation may be to blame.

Some families have been concerned that the vaccines is linked to autism. Dr. Abdul Abdi says that's a myth. The vaccination rates against measles have dropped significantly in the last 10-15 years, but the autism cases have remained steady. So that clearly shows there is no link.

Not sure of your child's immunization record?

You can actually look up your immunization record online to see if your children are up to date.